Sins of Our Past
by cryo247
Summary: They say it's our sins that define us. No man can say he has lived a life without sin, and no man can say he hasn't once thought about those sins. The Winter Solider was once a ghost of a sin in the back of an old man's mind but now the sin has been reborn. Bucky/OC *Will go into Captain America: The Winter Soldier*
1. Chapter One: Russia

**AN: Okay guys, I'm rewriting this. I'm so sorry but I don't think it was really going anywhere and I was having a hard time figuring out things. Anyway, I have this story more laid out so I hope you'll like the rewrite! Please leave a review and tell me what you think, thanks guys so much and enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter One: Russia

Ana remembered the first time she heard of the Winter Soldier project.

For the past year Ana was living and working in Russia under Dr. Aleksei Dumanovsky. Though Dumanovsky was a retired Soviet Scientist the world saw him as an innovator and a good man. The man was a genius; one of the smartest men of his age. But whenever he had more than a few drinks he instantly became a chatty drunk.

It was from Dr. Dumanovsky that Ana first heard of Project Winter Soldier. Apparently, the Winter Soldier was an American that was found in the ice preserved by suspended animation in the 1950's by a Soviet Sub. Dumanovsky went on to say that they trained him, brainwashed him, and made him believe that he was a Soviet assassin. Whenever Ana tried to ask Dumanovsky a question about who the man was before he became the Winter Soldier he would refuse to answer. He would say that they could be put into prison just for talking about the Winter Soldier.

Part of Ana wanted to do some digging on the subject, but she knew better than to google search a highly classified Russian topic while in Russia.

Moscow was overly crowded. Though Ana grew up in Washington Dc, the foreign city seemed bigger, louder, and way more populated. Ana ducted out of the apartment building she was staying in. The apartment was a small one bedroom that was cramped, had loud neighbors, and smelt of smoke even though Ana didn't smoke. Ana pulled her gray beanie out of the side pocket of her back pack. As she hurried down the snow covered streets she tucked her still damp hair into the beanie. A few people passed the American by as she walked but she didn't say anything, Ana knew no one in the city.

The steps leading down to the Metro were slicked over with ice. Posters for movies that were released months ago were hanging on the walls along with various warning signs. On the third step from the bottom Ana nearly fell onto her butt. A few passing by children snickered as she ducted into the car and continued on her journey to her mentor's house.

An hour later the doors opened for Ana's final stop. She bent over and grabbed her backpack then threw it over one shoulder before ducting out of the metro. Dumanovsky lived in a large house that had been in his family since the Revolution. The brick house was massive and had a garden that covered the front yard. The house was way too spacious for just the old man and his ageing English Bulldog. Sometimes Ana felt bad when she had to leave Dumanovsky alone but he had a housekeeper that lived in a cottage out back that kept him company.

After a few months of awkwardly knocking on the door and waiting for the housekeeper, Rose, to answer Ana just let herself in. The house was filled with clutter that Dumanovsky called his 'treasures' but we would call it junk. There were yellowing family photo's everywhere of Dumanovsky's nieces and nephews, his parents, siblings, and even further back.

"Dr. Dumanovsky?" Ana called into the house as she took off her beanie and coat then hung them up on the antique coat rack. The coat rack was riddled with furs and other things that were older than Ana's Grand mother. She picked up her bag and hurried down the hall to the kitchen.

Dr. Dumanovsky was an elderly man with white that was in need of a good cut. He wore a pair of thick glasses that were much larger than his crystal clear blue eyes but had the kind of smile that relaxed someone even when they were scared. Ana secretly thought he was attractive when he was young by the pictures she saw lining the walls.

Currently Dumanovsky was sitting in the kitchen at the antique table eating a bowl of Lucky Charms. Since Dumanovsky was so tall his shoulders towered over the back of the chair causing him to hunch over when he ate.

"Ah Anya," even though her name was Ana, he insisted on giving Ana a 'Russian name' upon her arrival nearly a year ago. Ana never corrected the man he was just so excited to have someone around, "You are early, you must have an idea."

Ana sat down beside Dumanovsky and poured myself a bowl of cereal. Growing up her brother, Will, always ate Lucky Charms. The sugary cereal was a constant reminder of her brother , "I have to turn in a collection of the work we've done within the month, then I fly home."

Dumanovsky's face dropped. They grew close in Ana's year in Moscow but they both knew this day would come. Eventually Ana's Visa would run out, but even more important that that, S.H.I.E.L.D wanted Ana back within the month. Ana felt a pit of guilt in her stomach for never telling Dumanovsky about who she really worked for. When she arrived she lied and said that she was working for a branch of the United States Military. Ana tried to tell herself that since the military would be using the technology they produced, it wasn't fully a lie.

"Well, we have to get started actually writing our work done now don't we Dr. Baker?" Dumanovsky asked as he pushed his bowl away from him. The scientist stood and sighed as the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall.

Ana grabbed her bowl of dry cereal and stood. She turned when she heard trotting footsteps as Dumanovsky's plump white English Bulldog, Boris, came bounding into the dining room. Smiling, Ana knelt down and gave Boris a rainbow marshmallow then affectionately rubbed Boris's ears which earned a happy bark from the dog.

"Come Anya, Boris, let's go to the lab," Dumanovsky said as he shuffled out of the dining room.

Ana smiled as the man bent slightly so he didn't hit his head on the low doorframe. Ana followed after Dumanovsky as he shuffled into the living room which was a pastel green room with a large piano then down a corridor to a single door. That door lead to what Dumanovsky considered to be his 'lab'. The lab was really the family's wine cellar that now had white boards lining each wall and markers spewn all over the room. A pair of desks sat in the middle of the room facing each other. While the pair were working on projects would sit for hours without saying anything.

The white boards were filled with their work. In the past year the pair were working on the idea of prosthetic limbs that would connect to the nervous system. Dumanovsky was a leader in biophysics and was trying to invent a new form of prosthetic limb that would work as a real armm, equip with regrowing skin and everything. As one of America's youngest and leaders in Biomedical engineering, Dumanovsky enlisted her help. Ana was always skeptical that Dumanovsky wouldn't select a Russian scientist to work alongside him but when she asked him about it Dumanovsky made it clear that they had to be America.

They stood side by side. Dumanovsky had his hands in his pockets and Ana was standing with her hands on her hips staring at the rainbow writing. Sighing she ran a hand through her hair which was starting to melt from being frozen under her beanie, "We have a lot to write down."

"You get your computer out and start typing things," Dumanovsky ordered as Ana placed my bag on her desk. She got out my laptop just as Boris came waddling into the room. Ana loved that dog with all her heart. She bent down and pet him once more before the dog waddled over to his bed in the corner of the lab.

As Ana started my computer up she stood and sighed. Dumanovsky was busy filing through some documents. Ana opened up Word just as he sighed, "I forgot to ask, would you like something to drink Anya?"

Smiling Ana ate a handful of cereal and nodded, "Sure, a cup of coffee would be nice."

"I will go tell Rosa to make us some coffees and bring some tea cakes since I know you like them so," Dumanovsky's heavy accent used to be hard to understand. But most of the time they were switching from Russian to English so it got easier to understand.

With that Dumanovsky left the lab. Ana stood for a moment and listened to the sound of his heavy footsteps on the steps. She was at a loss as to how she was going to record all this information for S.H.I.E.L.D. But at the same time, in the back of her mind Ana couldn't help but feel as if Dumanovsky was hiding something from her.

Slowly Ana walked over to the documents that were sitting on a small corner table. They were labeled 'CLASSIFIED' in big red lettering and looked to be as thick as the first Harry Potter novel. The date on the files was Jun 19, 1954. Ana wanted so badly to reach towards the file and explore it's contents. Quickly she glanced over her shoulder and reached for the file. One peek couldn't hurt, could it? All Ana wanted to know was what Dumanovsky was hiding. Ana wouldn't take the files back to S.H.I.E.L.D no matter the contents, she promised herself this.

"Curiosity kills the cat in the end Anya."

Instantly Ana froze and looked over my shoulder. Dumanovsky was standing in the doorway shaking his head. Ana knew she had been caught, there was no way she could talk herself out of this one.

Slowly Ana turned to face her mentor as her face flushed a deep red, "Sir, I'm so sorry I was just looking. I swear I wasn't going to do anything with it."

Dumanovsky held up his hand to silence Ana's pleas. Instantly she stopped talking and stood waiting for his verdict. Dumanovsky walked over to the corner table and picked up the file. He frowned at the folder then let out a long sigh before pushing his glasses up his nose with his index finger.

"We all have sin's in our past Anya and no matter how hard we try to bury them they always have a way of resurfacing," Dumanovsky shook the file before placing it down on my laptop keyboard, "Those are my sins. Every last piece of paper in this file details what I've done. It is about time the world knows, so they are ready for what's to come," he took a long pause, "After New York, I knew it was only a matter of time before I would have to face my sins," he nodded, "Today is that day. I want you to do something for me, there is an organization in New York known as S.H.I.E.L.D, if your friendship means anything to you child, you will give this file to them."

Ana stood there awestricken. She didn't tell Dumanovsky about her ties to S.H.I.E.L.D yet he was asking her . Men rarely admitted their faults; and here was one of the smartest men in the world fully admitting his flaws. Ana looked down at the file and felt as if the world was on her shoulders.

"Before I promise anything," Ana began slowly as to chose her words wisely, "What's in that file?"

Dumanovsky stood up straight with his hands clasped behind his back. He looked like he did in his old World War 2 uniform tall, proud, and bold, "I will not lie to you Anya, the information in that folder will label me as a war criminal," before I could protest he held up a hand and continued, "But there comes a time in every man's life that he must take responsibility for his actions. I'm afraid though, that I am too cowardly to present this information myself. If the Russian Government found out I had this after all these years and willingly gave it up to the Americans, I would be killed no matter what soil I stood on."

"So you would rather be labeled as a war criminal by the world," Ana began as she tilted her head to the side and gestured towards the file, "Than live with this?"

Dumanovsky nodded slightly. There was a haunting look in his blue eyes. It looked as if his eyes were always glazed over with that look of regret and shame. Had it been there in the last year? If it had maybe Ana was too in awe of Dumanovsky's huge reputation that she ignored it.

The old man nodded, "Anya I took an innocent man's life from him and made him into a monster. I altered his life, shifted his genetics, and destroyed his mind. I am not a good man, or in my youth I wasn't a good man. I was only eighteen when I did this; I was a prodigy and foolish. I see now the darkness of my work."

Ana instantly knew what Dumanovsky meant, he was alluding to the Winter Soldier. For a moment Ana stood there weighing my options. She could take the folder, read it, or destroy it, but never give it to S.H.I.E.L.D. Dumanovsky deserved his reputation as a great man and scientist regardless of what he did in his youth. But there was that look in his eyes that made her feel pity for the man.

Ana ran a hand through her hair and sighed, "I don't know. First I think I would want to read the files just so I know what I'm dealing with," she let her hands drop to her sides and sighed, "I just don't know, can I have twenty four hours to think about it?"

Dumanovsky nodded and sighed, "Anya, I am sorry that I was not a better man in my youth. Maybe if I was I would have done more."

"Dr. Dumanovsky, you will always be one of the best men I have ever met. Whatever is in those files, it does not change your genius. Good men can do bad things, but that doesn't change that they're good men," Ana said.

Dumanovsky gave Ana one last sad smile, "Oh my dear, just wait until you read that file."


	2. Chapter Two: Don't Try This at Home

**AN: So I hope you guys are enjoying the changes I've made and please leave a review to tell me what you think!**

* * *

Chapter Two: Don't Try This at Home

The next morning Ana woke up with an overwhelming feeling of guilt clouding her mind. Ana sat up and rubbed her eyes as she looked out into the Moscow streets. It was snowing, not a light snow but a heavy snow that made it so you couldn't even see. Groaning Ana stood and ran a hand through her hair.

"Not washing this today," Ana muttered to herself as she let her long dark waves hang down her back. Ana walked over to the one dresser in the room and pulled on a pair of dark jeans and a black sweater. One thing she learned about living in Russia was utilized dark colors, they kept you warm. Just as Ana walked past her phone that was laying on the kitchen counter it began to ring.

She grabbed the phone and answered, "Baker."

"Dr. Baker, you're starting to get an accent," a deep voice said from the other end of the phone.

A smirk worked it's way onto Ana's face, "Director Fury, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"You should be receiving your tickets for your return flight later this evening. I know I said that you would be leaving by the end of the month but you're needed back in New York so you'll be leaving in two weeks," Fury said.

Ana wanted to protest but she knew there was no way to talk Fury out of something once he had his mind set on it. Ana pressed the speaker option on her phone and began to put on a bit of makeup.

"Sounds good Sir. What am I needed in New York for?" Ana asked as she ran her hands through her hair.

"Well Dr. James isn't exactly a fantastic replacement. You've been gone for a year Dr. Baker, there's a lot that you need to catch up on. You need to be debriefed about what happened in New York and get acquainted with the Avengers, you will be working closely with them," Fury said.

Ana smirked as she wrapped her thick wool blue and silver scarf around her neck, "Ah, the Avengers what do they call them, Earth's mightiest heroes? No offense sir, but isn't that a bit, oh I don't know, obnoxious?" Ana wasn't one for flashy title; coming from a family of titles she didn't even like using her own.

"Dr. Baker when you're director of S.H.I.E.L.D you can name the teams, until then you will remember who's in charge," Fury said in his usual powerful voice.

Ana kicked herself, she never thought before she spoke and sometimes her mouth got away from her. Ana walked over to where her coat was hanging on the single peg and put it on, "Understood Sir. I hate to cut this short, but I'm suppose to be with Dr. Dumanovsky."

"Right, have you found any information that would be useful?" Fury asked as Ana pulled on her dark red pea coat.

Ana remembered the conversation she had the night before with Dumanovsky. She knew what she was walking into this morning, Ana had to take the file, "No sir," Ana said as she buttoned up her coat, "Nothing except information regarding my research."

"Well, fine then. I'll see you in two weeks Dr. Baker," with that Fury ended the call. Ana grabbed her phone off the bathroom sink and threw her backpack over her shoulder. Ana left the apartment and locked the door behind her then walked down the three flights of stairs until she reached the front door.

Ana stepped out into the heavy snow of the Moscow winter. Quickly Ana narrowed her eyes and pulled her scarf over her mouth to keep her lips from splitting from the cold winds.

Ana went on her usual daily walk of heading to the metro. Luckily she ducted into the car and found an empty seat where she sat down and folded her arms over her chest. A man was sitting across from her narrowing his eyes and looking her up and down. Ana was used to this, she was a foreigner and it was obvious.

But as time went on he didn't avert his eyes. Occasionally Ana would glance over and they would lock eyes for a moment. With one leg Ana pushed her bag closer towards her. There was a gun in her bag along with a taser and a bottle of mace . With a father as a General in the United States Army and a brother in the Army, Ana learned it was always best to be prepared.

Ana rubbed her hands together and blew on them. This caused the man sitting across from her to laugh, "Only an American comes to Russia without gloves."

His English was good and he spoke with a slight New York accent which surprised Ana. She rolled her eyes and said back in Russian, "Only a Russian feels the need to point out who's an American and who isn't."

"Ah she speaks Russia," the man teased.

Ana glanced at his ice blue eyes. They were strange looking; captivating but also hallow. It was as if there was nothing behind those eyes. Ana shifted uncomfortably and muttered back, "And he speaks English."

The voice on the loud speaker called for Ana's stop. She stood and grabbed her bag and exited the car. As she stepped onto the platform the man called, "Welcome to Moscow!"

Ana shook her head as she walked up the steps to the street above. The snow was settling down a bit but Ana had to hold her hand over her eyes to see the door of Dumanovsky's house.

When Ana saw the door her heart jumped into her throat. The door was thrown open, the lock broken, and there was snow in the entry way. Instantly Ana took off towards the door as she reached into her bag for her pistol. She removed the gun from the small front pocket as she walked into the house.

The house looked awful. Pictures were on the floor, chairs were tipped over, and snowy foot prints lined the floors. Ana slowly set her bag down next to the door and raised her gun as she slowly entered the house. She walked out of the entry way and turned towards the kitchen. A pair of pink heel clad feet were sticking out from behind the dining room table.

Ana crouched down slightly and hurried into the kitchen where she found the body of Dumanovsky's housekeeper, Rosa, lying face down. A pool of blood surrounded the woman's body and her white blouse was soaked with crimson blood. Ana felt as if she was going to be sick. She knew Rosa was dead by how much blood was covering the ground, there was no sense in checking.

Ana stood up straight as she heard a noise coming from the lab. Instantly she hurried out of the kitchen and nearly ran through the living room but slowed down when she reached the stairs that lead down to the lab. She could hear a voice speaking in German and one voice, that of Dumanovsky himself.

Slowly, Ana crept down the stairs until she could see what was going on. There were men standing in the room. All three were dressed in strange black uniforms, two were holding shotguns, and standing behind Dumanovsky who was kneeling on the ground with his hands on his head. A man was standing in front of Dumanovsky asking him a few questions.

"Where are the files?!" The man asked.

"I don't have them," Dumanovsky lied as he spoke in a calm voice.

The man hit Dumanovsky across the face with the handle of his pistol. Ana had to bite down on her cheek to keep herself from crying out. She couldn't let Dumanovsky get killed over documents.

Ana raised her gun and pointed it at one of the men standing behind Dumanovsky. She was hidden well enough that they couldn't see her but she could see them. Ana held her breath and pulled the trigger.

The bullet lodged itself in the man's skull. He fell to the ground in seconds but for Ana it felt like years. She never killed anyone before; never taken a life. When she was young her dad would occasionally talk about the things he saw in war and the things he did. He always said that killing changes a man, it takes away a piece of his innocence. As Ana sat there watching the man fall to the ground she wondered if he had a family, kids, a wife, a husband, or just anyone who loved him? Would they miss him, would they condemn her as a murder.

But Ana was pulled out of her thoughts when the leader turned and pointed his gun straight at Ana. Ana froze as her eyes fell on a oddly shaped octopus pin that was on the front of his jacket.

"Come out here, now," he snapped in German.

Slowly Ana emerged from her hiding spot. Dumanovsky's eyes fell onto his student and the man shook his head as he whispered in Russian, "Heaven help you child, you should have stayed away."

"Drop the gun sweetheart," the man's voice was like a snake slithering over your skin.

"Give me one reason why I should," Ana asked back. Her German was extremely rusty but the man understood.

"Because, if you don't I will shoot your friend," the man said with a wicked smile.

Ana narrowed his eyes and studied his face for a moment. He had slicked over blond hair that was dark with hair gel. His eyes were dark soulless pits carved into his face. His stance was tall and rigid, like he was trying to dominate the room, but couldn't have been much taller than Ana.

Ana flicked on the safety switch and placed the gun on the floor before kicking it towards the man. The man smirked as he bent over and picked the gun up and smirked before switching to english, "Ah, American. What is an American doing in Moscow working with this, swine, of a man?"

"He's a good man," Ana hissed as she narrowed her eyes.

"Anya please, don't get involved," Dumanovsky urged from his position on the floor.

The German man smirked, "You have a good shot, you must not be a normal American no?" He began to circle Ana who stood up straighter and tried to compose herself. But Ana kept on looking back at the body of the man she just killed. His comrade that was standing right beside it didn't move, and she noticed something else-

There was no blood.

"Ah you see that," the German said as he stopped behind Ana. He leaned in close so his breath tickled her cheeks. His breath smelt like cigarettes and alcohol which made Ana's nose wrinkle, "That is an Android, this is what Hydra can do."

_Hydra, _Ana tried to remember where she last heard that name.

"What does Hydra want with Dr. Dumanovsky?" Ana asked boldly as she looked down at Dumanovsky.

"Ah, she is a smart one is she not? We don't want Dumanovsky, we want his files and what he's protecting," the man smirked as he ran his finger along Ana's jaw line.

Ana wanted to flinch but she remained composed, "And what is he protecting."

"Oh you know, Dr. Ana Helen Carter, of S.H.I.E.L.D," the man smirked as he ran his hand down Ana's arm.

Ana looked at Dumanovsky just in time to see a look of hurt flash through his eyes before the German barked something and the Android fired. Ana cried out as Dumanovsky dropped to the ground, dead. Blood was spilling everywhere and Ana thought she was going to be sick.

The German man laughed and shook his head, "So stupid, how long did you think you were going to be able to fool everyone? The general's daughter, you have too much of your father in you."

Ana was too busy looking down at the body of the man she thought to be one of the best. He deserved more than this, more than her. The last thing he heard was the truth; the truth that Ana had been hiding from him. Ana stood there eyes wide and glazed over with tears.

The German man smirked as he examined the pistol that previously belonged to Ana, "Now, tell us where the files on the Winter Soldier are."

Ana turned away from Dumanovsky's body and faced the German man, "Go to fucking hell you prick."

"Such a mouth on this one, tisk tisk tisk, can't have you mouthing off like that," he turned to the Android, "Knock her out."

Before Ana could even react she was hit on the side of the head with the end of the Android's riffle. Her body fell to the ground, unconscious.


	3. Chapter Three: Going Rogue

**AN: Guess who we meet in this chapter? **

* * *

Chapter Three: Going Rogue

The first thing Ana saw when she woke up was her bag lying a few feet away from her. It was still closed which was strange. What was also strange was that her coat was lying next to it along with her scarf. There was a throbbing pain shooting through her head as Ana tried to sit up.

Panic set in when she realized she wasn't in Dumanovsky's house, or her apartment. Ana swung her legs off the side of the bed and stood wobbling a bit. She pressed a hand against the cold walls and pinched the bridge off her nose. Imagines of what happened that morning flew through Ana's head.

_Dumanovsky was dead, because of her. _

Ana's throat was dry. She thought becoming a doctor would be safe; you worked in labs, with people, not on the front lines. If it wasn't for her father and brother, Will, Ana wouldn't have been able to fire a gun. Yet she was able to kill a man, android, thing, and witness the death of her mentor.

Slowly as the dizziness faded Ana lifted her head. A door was right across from the bed she had been previously lying on. A small strip of light was seeping into the dark bedroom and the sound of a Russian TV program echoed from behind the door. With an arched brow Ana took a few steps towards the door and twisted the knob pull it open.

The door opened into a small apartment. The kitchen, dining room, and living room were all one room. The bathroom was next to the fridge but sectioned off with an old sheet that hung from the ceiling by nails. Someone was sitting on the couch with an arm draped over the back of the couch. Ana narrowed her eyes as she looked at the man's arm-

It was made of metal.

She rubbed her eyes and opened them wide before blinking a few times but nothing changed, that arm was still metal.

"The longer you stare the more it _won't_ change."

Ana jumped slightly as the man stood. He reached for the remote and turned off the TV before slowly turning to face Ana. Ana's jaw nearly dropped when she saw those same hallow blue eyes she saw on the train. She took a step towards him and pointed a finger at the man, "You-you're the guy from the train."

He nodded, "And you're the American from the train."

"How did I get here?" Ana asked as the man reached for a can of beer that was sitting on the coffee table and took a long drink.

He wiped his lips on the back of his metal hand, "Turns out you and I were going to the same place. I found you and brought you here."

Ana narrowed her eyes, "What do you want with-" then it all clicked. She looked at the metal arm. Her eyes fell to the crimson star that was painted on the shoulder then back at the man who spoke perfect English. He was standing there smirking slightly, "You're the Winter Soldier."

"And you're Dumanovsky's little American protege," he snarled, "Funny, I didn't expect him to actually take on a student."

"I wasn't his student," Ana corrected, "We were working together as partners."

The Winter Soldier trailled his eyes up and down Ana. There was nothing impressive about her, she was short, had slight curves, but didn't look like she could handle herself in a fight. She also couldn't be any older than 27.

"You're a doctor?" He asked in disbelief.

Ana nodded, "Doctor Ana Baker, pleasure to meet you," she ran a hand through her hair, "Thank you for bringing me here but what did you do with Dumanovsky's, body?"

The Winter Soldier shrugged his shoulders, "I left it there. There was no sense in worrying over it, the man was dead."

"But shouldn't his family be notified?!" Ana demanded.

"They will be," he muttered, "When the police find the bodies."

Ana shook her head, "Why take me though?"

"You talked to the man who killed Dumanovsky did you not?" Ana nodded and he continued, "Do you know where he kept the files on project Winter Soldier?"

"I don't," Ana said as she shook her head, "The German man was looking for them also. He was working for some group called Hydra. Do you know anything about them?"

The Winter Soldier shook his head, "No, but I'll do some digging."

Ana nodded as she wrapped her arms around herself, "For what it's worth, thank you for taking me out of there."

"I didn't do it for you," he muttered as he walked past Ana to get to the fridge, "I need information and someone who can move easily through countries to help me. With your status as a member of S.H.I.E.L.D and your close friendship with Dumanovsky you were just the obvious choice."

The Winter Soldier turned and saw that her brows were knitted together and he smirked, "Your passport was in the bag, I ran it through a database and found your S.H.I.E.L.D profile."

"Secret organization my ass," Ana muttered to herself and sighed as she sat down at the table. The Winter Soldier sat down across from her and passed her a beer. Ana eyed it skeptically.

"If I was going to kill you," he started as he opened his beer.

Ana hesitates for a moment but opened hers also, "So I'm safe?"

"For now," he muttered, "As long as you're usefull, you'll remain alive."

"How cheery," Ana muttered as she took a sip of the beer. It tasted like piss, but it was the first thing she had all day to drink. She licked her lips and asked, "What am I being used for?"

"You're going to help me recover the files about what Dumanovsky and the other scientists did to me. He was going to give them to me but apparently someone wants them more than I do," he muttered.

Ana narrowed her eyes as she took another sip before asking, "What's so important about those files? Don't you remember what happened?"

"No I don't," he snapped which made Ana jump slightly. He composed himself and shook his head, "I remember a few things, bits and pieces, but nothing full. I want to piece it all together before they find me again."

Ana then saw the pain in his eyes. She remembered what Dumanovsky once told her, that this man was from the 1950's. This world wasn't his, these people weren't his, nothing was the way he remembered it, and now he couldn't remember anything. Everything he once knew was gone, he was just this hallow form of a man.

"Well," Ana tried to choose her words wisely, "What do you remember?"

He ran a hand through his hair, "I remember smells, flashes of color, voices, and the feel of certain things. I also remember a name, I'm not sure it's mine but I remember looking at one, it was edged onto a dog tag."

Ana nodded, "And what was that name?"

"Bucky."

"General Baker," Maria Hill tried to hurry to catch up with the almost six foot tall general as he stormed down the halls of S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters towards Fury's office, "The director is very busy!"

"I don't give a damn!" General Thomas Baker snapped, "That bastard owes me answers!"

Before Maria could stop Thomas Baker he was throwing the doors of Fury's office open and storming inside. Fury was sitting as his desk calmly flipping through the agent's report of the state of Dr. Baker's apartment.

"General Baker," Fury started as he looked up at the angry man, "I suppose you're hear about your daughter."

"Why the hell else would I be here Fury?!" Thomas snapped, "What the hell happened in Russia? First I hear that, that Dr. Dumanovsky was killed, then we can't find Ana? What's going on I thought S.H.I.E.L.D had their shit together!"

Fury calmly stood and sighed, "General Baker, we are trying to locate Dr. Baker. We have every security camera in Moscow and the surrounding area running facial recognition. She's not dead we can tell you that, there was no sign of any of Dr. Baker's blood at the crime scene or at her apartment. We will find her."

Thomas Baker pinched the bridge of his nose. When Ana came to him two years ago declaring that she was applying for a job with S.H.I.E.L.D he thought it was a good idea. Ana was the type of girl that needed to be anchored to something or else her mind went a million places at once. So a nice lab job would be perfect. He never expected his youngest, his little girl, to go running off to Russia for a year much less get lost in the biggest country in the world.

"I thought we were going to keep tabs on her. She was suppose to get the file from Dumanovsky," Thomas said as he slowly calmed himself down.

Fury sighed, "There is a possibility that she has it because it wasn't found at Dumanovsky's or the apartment."

"She better," Thomas mutter, "There's a lot of people depending on that information."


	4. Chapter Four: Partners in Crime

**AN: So I'm glad you guys are liking the edits! **

**macariadaughterofhades: I'm so glad you're liking the story! No, Ana is not Peggy's daughter but she is Thoma's daughter, that's why she goes by Baker. If you have anymore questions I would love to answer them, I actually love questions haha. Please keep the reviews coming and thank you very much!**

* * *

Chapter Four: Partners

"I'm not cutting my hair."

Bucky rolled his eyes for the fifth time as he handed Ana a pair of old scissors, "Yes, you are. You'll be too easily recognized with hair that long."

Ana was leaning against the kitchen sink where the only mirror was in the small apartment with her arms folded over her chest. She was staring at Bucky who was holding the scissors between the two of them. For the past ten minutes he was trying to convince Ana to cut her hair so they could start looking for the files.

"Baker, it's either you cut your own goddamn hair or I will do it for you," Bucky threatened.

Ana scowled and snatched the scissors away from him, "Fine," as Bucky walked away Ana scowled. She spent the past year trying to grow her hair out and it was finally at a length she liked, "Have you tried running Hydra through your database?"

"Yeah, they're based in mostly Germany but they aren't an official German organization. They're more like a myth but apparently they were around in World War Two, but that's it," Bucky called from the living room.

"So we're going to Germany," Ana said as she looked at herself in the mirror. She sighed then bravely began to cut her hair. She started to cut her hair so it fell to her collar bones, "How's your German?"

"Perfect, yours?" Bucky asked.

"It can get me by," Ana said as she finished one side and started on the other. It was the worst hair cut she ever had but Ana didn't care. She knew it was a bit uneven but it wasn't like she was trying to impress anyone.

Bucky stood and walked into the kitchen, "What other languages do you speak?"

"Russian," cut, "English," cut, "A bit of French," cut, cut, "and Arabic," Ana cut another strand and shook one side out. There was a six inch difference between her newly cut hair and the hair she had before.

"Good, you're useful for something then," Bucky muttered as he walked over to a small dresser and took out a couple of passports.

Ana caught sight of the books in the mirror and turned as she held a strand of hair and the scissors in one hand, "No, no, no bad idea," when she saw Bucky's confused look she sighed, "S.H.I.E.L.D has agent's everywhere. We agreed that I would be going undercover for this, well whatever this is. If we're going to get in and out of places without being notice we have to slip in and out of them. No passports, no ID's, nothing."

A smirk crossed Bucky's lips, "Ah, illegal border crossing. Nice idea."

"I'm glad to see my Harvard education is really paying off," Ana muttered to herself as she finished cutting her hair. She shook her hair out and sighed, it would do and it would grow quickly.

Bucky passed Ana a plastic bag filled with clothes he picked up. They were mostly darker colors but she didn't care, it's what she usually wore anyway. Ana then placed them in her backpack and pulled on the black jacket Bucky stole.

"So we'll take a train to Kursk, get off and smuggle our way into the Ukraine," Ana said as she took out her laptop. There was no sense in having it with them anymore, S.H.I.E.L.D could just track her through. Ana took out a large electro magnet she had Bucky get and held it over the hard drive. It was fried in seconds. Part of Ana didn't care about the research anymore. Dumanovsky wanted Ana to take the file, and she didn't. Dumanovsky was dead, this wasn't about knowledge anymore-

This was about revenge.

Bucky nodded in agreement, "Then from there I have a few contacts that we can meet up with that will get us through the Ukraine."

"Can you trust them?" Ana asked as she arched an eyebrow.

Bucky knew Ana for three days. In those three days he picked up on a few of her quirks, mostly her facial expressions and what they really meant. Now, while she looked at him with one arched brow it was her trying to say that she was questioning something.

"Maybe," Bucky said as he stuffed a few last minute items into his bag, "You can't really trust anyone."

"That's no way to live," Ana muttered under her breath as she pulled on the jacket and picked up her ruined computer.

"What do you know about living?" Bucky snapped. He hated how Ana muttered things under her breath when she knew he could hear her.

"Well," Ana snapped back as she tossed the computer onto the couch, "Obviously not as much as the Russian super soldier assassin. Maybe you could give me a lesson in how to live oh wise one!"

Bucky scowled as Ana swung her book bag onto her back. He hated her; more than hated her, he _loathed _her. She was confident, brazen, and cocky. Ana didn't know when to keep her mouth shut and didn't care what she said. Bucky didn't know how he was going to deal with her while they made the trek all the way to Germany, but he had to. She was an advantage to his cause and that's what Bucky had to keep telling himself.

Without another word from either of the pair they left the apartment. Bucky didn't even bother to lock the door before hurrying after Ana who was already heading down the stairs. The American woman was wrapping a dark red scarf around her neck to keep her face warm before they stepped out into the cold Moscow morning. The sun was barely rising in the distance of the Moscow skyline thus making the city abnormally cold. Ana muttered a curse under her breath as she stepped outside onto the street corner. The street which mainly consisted of a slum wasn't awake yet, safe for the few prostitutes that were walking back from their weary night's work.

Ana waited for Bucky to join her on the street before the two walked towards the Metro station. It was a short walk to the underground station and once they got there they had to wait five minutes for the next train.

"What station are we going to?" Bucky asked as he folded his arms over his chest.

Ana took a sideways glance at the soldier. He had his long brown hair pulled back into a tiny ponytail that exposed the top portion of his face. A heavy wool scarf hid part of his chin except for when he spoke, he would pull the scarf down.

"Kursky railway station," Ana answered simply as she glanced down the tunnel for the train, "From there we go to Kursk then I'll buy a map and we can plan how to get into the Ukraine."

Bucky nodded and there was silence once more. Ana glanced out of the corner of her eye when she saw a poster of Tony Stark plastered to the wall. He was standing in his Iron Man suit, helmet off, striking a brave pose with his chest heaved out and hands on hips. Beneath the poster written in white letters was, 'take away the suit you just have a weak man' and under that was an advertisement for a local boxing gym. Ana snorted and shook her head.

"Something funny Baker?" Bucky took to referring to Ana by her last name rather quickly- much to her dismay.

Ana pointed over her shoulder towards the poster, "He's actually not that bad of a guy; my sister dated him for a while."

Bucky nodded then asked, "Who is he?"

Ana arched an eyebrow, "You don't know _the _Tony Stark? He's a genius billionaire; his father built Stark Industries. They make weapons, well they used to make weapons now they're in clean energy. He's a bit of an ass when you first meet him but he gets better the more you get used to him."

"Spent a lot of time with him have you?" Bucky asked as the metro cars pulled into the station.

Ana smirked and muttered, "I work for S.H.I.E.L.D science division, of course I have," she paused and narrowed her eyes at him, "Wait, are you being civil, for the first time in three days?"

The pair walked onto the metro and sat down in two empty seats. Ana glanced around the car to make sure no one was watching them. Bucky did the same before the pair settled back into their seats. Ana crossed one leg over the other and folded her arms over her chest.

"So, anything else I should know?" Bucky asked in an annoyed voice.

Ana shrugged, "Give me one reason why I should tell you anything?"

"I can't," Bucky said honestly, "But I could kill you."

"Oh please do," Ana said as she locked eyes with the man, "You would have S.H.I.E.L.D and American special forces on you."

Bucky smirked and shook his head as he chuckled, "You're so confident that your life is actually worth something to S.H.I.E.L.D or the Americans."

Out of the corner of his eye Bucky saw Ana clenching her jaw and hands before she muttered bitterly and in English, "And you see to think that everyone's lives are only as valuable as they are to you."

"Oh I'm not saying they're valuable to me," Bucky said back in English, "I'm just saying that an organization like S.H.I.E.L.D isn't going to worry about one silly scientist going missing, no matter who she is."

"And what's that supposed to mean?!" Ana muttered as she kept her eyes straight as the train jostled over the Moscow slums.

Bucky shrugged, "You obviously come from some important family in America and think yourself entitled to believe that you'll be saved."

That caused Ana to shut up for a few moments before saying in a small voice, "I know I won't be; trust me. My father's not one to play favorites for his kids, even if they're about to die."

Bucky was about to ask what she meant by that but Ana spoke before he could, "I'm not going to explain it."

And that was the end of it. Bucky didn't ask Ana anything else about who her family was and what they did. It was obvious she didn't like to talk about it and wouldn't talk about it. Bucky saw something flash through her eyes, was it hurt? He shook it off and started out as the Moscow sun slowly began to rise over the tops of the buildings.

"It's beautiful," Ana muttered softly as she looked out at the sun, "The sun rises here always seem, calmer, than back home."

Bucky didn't ask what she meant by that. He just nodded and looked out into the sun like Ana was doing. He glanced over to look at her for a moment and saw flickers of gold in her dark eyes. Bucky watched as Ana pulled her scarf up so it covered her chin and before saying, "Our stop is coming up. When we get to the station you go find a map and I'll buy tickets. Come find me once you have the map."

Bucky nodded in agreement as the pair stood. They waited for two more stops to pass before they reached their stop. Once the doors opened they went into Kursky railway station together. But once they were inside Bucky went one way and Ana went another.

For a moment Ana contemplated running. She knew she could do it, she wasn't strong but she was fast. If she bought a ticket to St. Petersburg she could get to the Embassy and contact S.H.I.E.L.D. It would be fairly easy, well if Bucky didn't realize what she was doing before then. But there was something telling Ana not to, she wanted to see the people that killed Dumanovsky suffer.

So, slowly step by step, Ana walked towards the domestic ticket counter for southern trains. Every step seemed harder until Ana was standing behind a few tourists from Australia who were arguing with the man at the ticket counter. Neither spoke Russian and the man was pretending that he couldn't understand the. Ana smirked, she saw this go on a hundred times all over the world, everyone took advantage of the tourist. For a moment Ana thought about helping the couple but decided not to because she was too busy focusing on a man who was standing in the middle of the railway station.

The man was standing looking up at the time table with a cup of coffee in his hand and a cell phone pressed to his ear. He was dressed in a Russian Military uniform and had bright green eyes. The man was smiling a bright white smile as he spoke into his phone.

Christ he looked like Will.

A pang of sadness settled in Ana's stomach as she gave the man one more glance. He was a spitting image of her brother; smile and everything. The man looked over and noticed Ana watching him. He smiled and waved as if they were old friends. Ana smiled and nodded.

"Next!" The man behind the ticket counter barked.

Ana broke her gaze from the man and stepped forward, "Two tickets to Kursky."

"80 ruble," the man said.

Normally Ana would have argued over the price but just dug the money out of her pocket and handed it to the man behind the counter. The man took the money and smirked as he printed her two tickets, "Have a nice trip."

Ana snatched the ticket and glanced over her shoulder once more. The man was gone and standing in his place was Bucky. Ana handed Bucky his ticket and sighed, "Platform 7, let's head there now the train comes in 10 minutes."

"Lead the way, oh and I got the map like you told me to," Bucky muttered.

Ana rolled her eyes, "That's a first."


	5. Chapter Five: Back on the Home Front

**AN: Just a bit about what's going on at home while Ana's away, and a little bit about what happened to Will. Tell me what you think!**

* * *

Chapter Five: Back on the Home Front

"Director, we have a picture," Maria Hill said as she walked into Fury's office.

Fury's office was on the top floor of the S.H.I.E.L.D building. It overlooked the bustling New York skyline with massive windows as walls. A large glass desk sat in the middle of the room along with a few computers that were on top of the desks and a large black office chair was positioned behind the desk. A pair of black arm chairs sat in front of the desk for the rare occasion Fury had guests that couldn't stand, or were too important to stand.

Fury looked up from his computer, it had been a week since Ana went missing and they hadn't been able to locate her. They found her laptop lying on a tattered couch in the Moscow slums but Ana was gone. There was no DNA, nothing.

Maria handed the picture to Fury who narrowed his eye. The woman in the picture didn't look like Ana. The woman in the picture was dressed in all black, her hair was shorter, and pin straight. Her eyes were scanning for something and she was holding a pair of tickets. A scarf was covering her mouth and she was walking along with a man who was holding a map.

"What's the percent accuracy?" Fury asked as he looked from the picture to Maria Hill.

Maria stood with her back perfectly straight, "Sir it's a fifty percent accuracy."

Fury sat back and sighed as he pinched his nose, "Agent Hill, I need more than fifty percent. Were any other imagines taken?"

Maria shook her head, "No sir, we were only able to find this one before the she disappeared. But, besides the hair and the scarf she is basically Ana! She-"

"Agent Hill," Fury started with a firm voice, "There was nothing found on the laptop, no DNA, and no one has seen her. What makes you think this woman is actually Ana?"

Maria knew Ana all her life. Growing up Maria was best friends with Ana's brother Will. When Will died Maria looked out for Ana by using her position at S.H.I.E.L.D. Maria even talked Ana into applying for a job with S.H.I.E.L.D. Since Ana and Katherine weren't close Maria tried to look after her as a little sister.

"Sir," Maria said in a calm voice, "I just a feeling and you taught me to trust my gut."

Fury sighed and nodded, "Fine, if you're so sure I'll send Romanov and Rogers."

...

Katherine Baker wasn't one to worry. She prided herself on being the calm one in her military family and the one to always think that something was going to work out. When her father stopped by her small posh apartment Katherine knew something was wrong. The thing that really set Katharine off was the fact that her father was visiting her.

"Dad," Katherine said as she stepped aside to let him into her apartment, "What brings you here?"

"Can't I come to see my eldest daughter?" Even though Katherine was the oldest since Will's death her father still referred to her as 'his oldest daughter'. Katherine tried to tell herself that it didn't bother her but deep down inside Katherine hated it.

Katherine shut her door and walked towards the kitchen with her father, "Well, you never come unless you have something you want me to do or you want something from me," Katherine said as she walked over to the fridge and opened it. She took out a pitcher of orange juice then grabbed two clean glasses from the sink.

Thomas was already sitting at Katherine's kitchen island with his hands folded together. Katherine poured each of them a cup of juice and passed Thomas his cup before taking a sip of hers.

Thomas glanced at his eldest daughter for a moment. Katherine and Ana looked a lot a like; same hair, same eye shape, and the same annoyed look whenever she spoke to him. It was strange how similar the two girls were and how horribly they got along.

Ana was the scientific, analytical one who needed to see everything before making a decision. Ana had to think about something and weigh her options before diving head first into something. It was rare that Ana said anything without thinking about it first and was constantly marveling people with her intellect.

Katherine was the risk taker. In many ways she was like Will, she would do anything for her career. Since she joined the Times as an investigative journalist Katherine was always traveling to some war zone. She was willing to jump head first into a situation just for the story. Katherine was of a quieter intelligence, unless it was about current events she wouldn't jump into conversation.

Thomas didn't expect Ana to be the one to get lost in Russia.

"Well," Katherine said as she took a sip of her juice, "What brings you by, dad?"

It was clear that Katherine didn't get along with her father; she didn't try to hide it.

Thomas took a sip of his juice then sighed, "Something's happened to Ana."

Katherine placed her cup down and stood up straight, "What do you mean something's happened to Ana?"

"As you know Ana's been in Russia for the past year. Well as of thirty six hours ago, she's been filed as a missing person. S.H.I.E.L.D is sending agents to Russia to search for Ana tomorrow," Thomas said with a sigh.

Katherine knitted her eyebrows together and shook her head, "She's been missing for three days?! Did you know this was going to be dangerous?"

"We needed information from a Russian sci-"

Katherine cut off her father before he could even finish as she held up her hand, "You sent Ana into Russia fully knowing it was dangerous?! Did she know, does mom know?!" Katherine demanded.

"Katherine we had no choice we needed this information it's vital and Ana wanted to do it. She-" Again Katherine cut Thomas off.

"Did Ana know how dangerous this was?"

There was utter silence. Katherine was standing behind the island holding onto the granite countertop as she pursed her lips and tried to not look at her father. Rage coursed through her body. It was just coming to the two year anniversary of Will's death and Katherine would be damned if she lost another sibling to her father's damn power struggle.

"Does mom know?" Katherine asked.

Thomas shook his head, "No, I was hoping you could be there."

Katherine ran a hand through her hair and sighed, "Fine, I'll get my keys and let's go."


	6. Chapter Six: Slow Down

**AN: Alright guys there's a little surprise at the end of this chapter! Please leave a review it would be very appreciated. **

* * *

Chapter Six: Slow Down

By the time they got to Kursk it was a little after noon. The weather had improved a bit in the south so Ana took off her scarf and stuffed it into her book bag. Bucky unzipped his coat as the pair got off the train and entered the busy railway station. Ana glanced around as they walked for anyone that looked like they could be from S.H.I.E.L.D.

"What are you looking for?" Bucky asked as he sensed Ana being on edge.

"Anyone that could be from S.H.I.E.L.D," she muttered, "By now my father must have started looking for me."

Bucky rolled his eyes, "Don't worry you can go running back home to daddy after this is all over."

Ana scowled, "No, I don't run back to my father," she muttered as she looked straight ahead of her, "For your information, my father and I don't exactly see eye to eye on a lot of things. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't see eye to eye with any members of my family except for my mother, and Will when he was alive."

"How did you brother die?" Bucky asked as the two walked down a flight of stairs that lead to a pair of large iron doors which overlooked the street.

Ana licked her lips and sighed as she opened one of the doors and the pair stepped outside, "He was killed in Afghanistan almost two years ago. There was an, incident, and my brother's team went in to check on this building," Bucky watched as Ana took a pause and shook her head, "Will found the bomb and told the guys to get out. They left and Will tried to defuse it but there wasn't enough time and well, let's just say we didn't get to bury a body."

Bucky studied her face for a moment and wondered about her brother. Was he like Ana at all? Did they look a like, did they have the same smile. Come to think of it, Bucky never saw Ana smile. He caught faint glimpse of one but never a real smile where her teeth would show and her laugh lines would become visible.

"I'm sorry," Bucky said.

Ana knitted her eyebrows together as she turned to look at Bucky, "What did you say?"

"I said," Bucky began, "That I was sorry. It sounds like you two were close. I don't know what it's like to lose a family member, but I'm sure it's painful. So, I'm sorry."

That's when he saw it; Ana's first smile. The corners of her plump lips turned up ever so slightly. Then her lips broke into a full smile and she shook her head as she looked up and blinked a few times.

"What's so funny?" Bucky asked as Ana went back to looking straight ahead. Cars were driving by the train station as the air lingered with the smell of meats being cooked. The train station was surrounded by a few tourist destinations and many resturants. Instantly Ana felt her stomach growl.

"I just never expect you to apologize for anything," Ana admitted as she moved so a woman could pass through to get to the train station. The smell of soup being cooked hit Ana full on and her stomach grumbled once more.

Bucky heard her stomach and smirked, "Hungry?"

"Famished," Ana admitted.

"Come then, I'll get a hold of my contact but first let's get some food. I wouldn't mind something either," Bucky said and the pair crossed the busy street towards the busy cafe.

The cafe was a small dark green building with gold lettering on the windows. The inside was filled with commuters who were enjoying their lunch and making conversation with each other. Ana wasn't fully keen on having lunch in such a busy place but the aching her stomach made it kind of hard to resist.

Bucky politely opened the door for Ana. Ana was slightly shocked by the gesture but she stepped inside. The smell of freshly made vegetable Borscht hit her head on as she walked over to one of the empty booths in the back of the cafe. Ana took off her bag and put in on the plush seat beside her before sliding into the booth. Bucky took off his bag and coat then did the same before sitting down across from Ana.

"So," Bucky asked as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Do you have any other siblings?"

Ana nodded as she rubbed her wrist, "A sister, Katherine. Will and Katherine were twins but they couldn't be more different. Katherine's a journalist for the New York Times, we don't talk very often though."

"So your family isn't, close?" Bucky asked as a pretty blond haired waitress came over and handed them menus.

Ana shook her head, "Our father used to keep tabs on us but no, we're not close," Ana turned to the waitress and ordered a coffee and the vegetable Borscht. Bucky ordered the same and the Waitress left but not without flashing Bucky a flirty smile.

Ana rolled her eyes and sat back folding her arms over her chest as Bucky spoke again, "You don't sound like you get along with your father."

"Ha," Ana grumbled as the waitress brought their waters, "Growing up knee deep in the American Military doesn't really make for a great family bonding. My dad's a General who often abuses his power to spy on his kids. I bet it's eating him up inside that I've gone AWOL."

Bucky couldn't help but smirk as he took a sip of his water before setting the glass back down, "What, running away isn't something you'd normally do?"

Ana shook her head as she swallowed a mouthful of water. For some odd reason Ana loved the water in Russia. She would never be able to explain why to someone but Ana could drink water in Russia for the rest of her life, "No, between my brother, sister, and myself I was always the one who thought things through. This," she guested between herself and the assassin, "Isn't something I would normally do. I think things through, hell I spent three weeks making a pros and cons list for what college I should go to."

"Having second thoughts?" Bucky asked as Ana rolled her eyes and smirked.

"What happened to I am only here because I'm useful?" Ana asked as she narrowed her eyes.

Bucky shrugged, "Well that is why you're here. But I could have killed you if you didn't want to come."

"And my mother experienced the loss of two of her children and miss out on the chance to avenge Dumanovsky?" Ana shook her head and took another sip of water before saying, "Perish the thought."

"You're being pleasant," Bucky noted as the waitress brought over their soup, "You're plotting my death aren't you?"

"Oh no," Ana teased as the waitress flashed her a dirty look. Ana pretend to ignore it and ate a spoonful of soup before saying, "I'd be awful at planning assassinations. I would feel too bad."

"Yet you're willing to run across a continent to take down the men who killed your mentor?" Bucky asked.

Ana put down her spoon and sighed, "I guess I am. I mean, we all need a little excitement right? We'll take down Hydra then I'll return to my quiet desk job with S.H.I.E.L.D, well presuming you don't kill me first."

Bucky wasn't paying attention. He was too busy focusing on a man who was sitting outside watching them. The man was holding a newspaper but looked to be more interested in what the odd pair were doing. The man was sitting by himself with a brief case just sitting on the table.

Ana noticed that Bucky wasn't paying attention and she narrowed her eyes, "Bucky, what's wrong?"

Before Bucky could answer her the man stood and pretended to check a text message before walking away. Bucky looked from Ana to the briefcase before he heard a quiet beeping.

"Ana, get down!" Bucky shouted as he lept across the table and pulled Ana down under it. Just as Ana's head collided with the wooden floor a loud explosion rocked the cafe. The glass windows were blown in, tables were flipped, and people were scattered everywhere. Bucky had Ana's small form pulled under him as he shielded her from the majority of the blast.

Ana's ears were ringing as if she went to a heavy metal concert. She blinked a few times and looked down to see Bucky's metal arm wrapped protectively around her middle. He was pulling her roughly to her chest and one of his hands hovered over her eyes to protect them from the blast. The pair was protected mostly by the table which was now flipped over in front of them with their lunch scattered everywhere.

"We're getting out of here," Bucky muttered as he grabbed Ana's hand and tossed her bag over his shoulder. He pulled Ana to her feet and began dragging her towards the exit of the cafe. People were scattered everywhere, they were bleeding, somewhere dead, and others were marveling at the pair who were storming out.

"We have to help them!" Ana protested as she tried to wrench her hand out of Bucky's metal one.

Bucky turned and pointed a finger in Ana's face, "We have to get out of here, now."

Ana narrowed her eyes and nodded, "Fine," she muttered as Bucky began pulling her out into the street. The pair made eye contact with the man that caused the explosion. He was standing across the street holding his cell phone.

"Bucky-"

Ana was cut off by the man shouting 'Hail Hydra' and another explosion rocked the cafe. This time the explosion came from inside the cafe. Ana and Bucky were both thrown to the ground. The ringing in Ana's ears only got worse. She rolled to the side and groaned as she gripped her stomach and winched. The man who exploded the cafe was lying dead on the ground only 10 feet away from them with a pool of blood around his head.

Slowly Ana pushed herself to her feet and winched as a sharp pain shot through her side. She winced and hissed as she touched her ribs then pulled it away. Blood was covering her hand. Ana wiped the blood on her jeans then looked over to where Bucky was still lying on the ground.

"Bucky we have to get out of here," Ana pleaded as she knelt down but was careful of her wound, "Bucky?" She shook him and he just groaned, "Bucky we have to get out of here."

Bucky only groaned. Ana muttered a curse under her breath as she rolled him over and saw that his metal arm was exposed. The sound of police sirens were echoing in the distance. Panic set in as Ana wrapped Bucky's metal arm around her shoulder and she hissed as she pulled him up slightly. He was heavy, so heavy that Ana could barely pick him up. Hunched over he was as tall as Ana but he was twice her weight in muscle.

"You're eating nothing but salad from now on," Ana groaned as she dragged Bucky towards an alley way. As they neared the alley way Ana glanced up at the security camera and swore before breaking her gaze. She dragged Bucky over to the alley way and set him down behind a dumpster. Ana stood and hissed as she put a hand on her ribs then hurried out of the alley way.

The black book bag was lying on the street amidst the rubble. Ana moved as quickly as she could but she was losing blood fast. Ana grabbed the bag then started back towards the alley way.

When Ana got back Bucky was gone. Panic set in as she put the bag down and looked around. He was no where to be found, "Bucky?" Ana called gently.

Before she could react someone was gripping her by the neck and forcing Ana against the brick wall. Ana's hands flew to Bucky's as she gasped for breath as she desperately kicked to try to touch the ground. Ana gasped, "Bucky, it's me it's Ana!"

"You're a treat. You're in S.H.I.E.L.D. You need to be eliminated," Bucky hissed as he lowered his head closer to Ana. She could feel his breath on her face as his hand tightened around her neck.

Ana looked at Bucky's eyes. His pupils were so dilated that the bright blue was gone. His eyes were now soulless savage black pits and it was scaring Ana. Ana gripped Bucky's hands and gasped, "Bucky please it's me! Bucky I-I can't breath."

Bucky tightened his grip on Ana's throat and studied her eyes. They were full of fear as she desperately tried to pry his hands off of her throat. Her mind was racing back to school when they were learning about the brain. For about two weeks they talked about how to handle sleepwalkers. Bucky's behavior reminded Ana of a sleepwalker; he could communicate but other than that his mind was a void. During University the professors always said you should gently guide the sleep walker to a safe place. Well, Ana wasn't able to gently guide Bucky anywhere with him pinning her to the wall. One of her professors had a theory; if you make a loud enough noise or do something shocking it could wake the sleepwalker up.

The clock was ticking. Ana had a total of thirty seconds before she lost consciousness and she was down to only 10. Bucky's face was only an inch or so away and Ana had limited options.

******'****I'm going to hate myself for this,' Ana thought before she did the only thing that would work. Ana closed the gap between the two and pressed her lips to Bucky's. **


	7. Chapter Seven: Mobsters

**AN: A little bit of Ana's back story in this and some fluff because it's valentines day- well it was two hours ago.**

**macariadaughterofhades: Yes Pepperony will be in this! Also, two of the things you've been wondering about will be addressed in this chapter, enjoy!**

**Sarah: I'm glad you're loving it! Please keep the reviews coming!**

* * *

Chapter Seven: Mobsters

The feeling of Ana's soft lips pressed to his brought Bucky back to reality. He realized that he was holding Ana against a wall and she was kissing him. But that was the strange thing, Bucky didn't mind it. Ana's lips were soft, warm, and velvety. He never remembered if he had been kissed before; his whole life was a blur. But if he hadn't been, Bucky was happy that this would be the first time he could remember it.

Suddenly it dawned on Bucky that he was still holding onto Ana's throat. Bucky dropped Ana and took a step back horrified by his actions and shocked by the kiss.

Ana dropped to the ground and held her throat as she coughed violently. She brought her knees to her chest and placed her head between her knees then began to breath slowly. Gradually Ana's vision cleared and her head stopped spinning.

"Never!" Ana began but had to stop to cough, "Never, ever, do that again! I thought I totally lost you, and do you realize how much you weigh?"

Bucky was just standing there looking down at Ana with a shocked expression on his face, "You kissed me?"

"I-" cough, "Had to do," wheeze cough, "something you were choking me and you went all, weird assassin on me!"

"So you kiss me?" Bucky asked as he was still trying to wrap his head around it all.

Ana rubbed her throat which was going to bruise, "I had to do something," she winced and touched her ribs, "Fuck, I forgot about that."

Bucky knitted his brows together and knelt down in front of Ana, "What happened?"

"Some of the shrapnel from the blast nicked me," Ana explained as she pulled up her shirt to reveal a long gash, "It needs stitches."

"Here," Bucky said as he grabbed the bag that was lying beside Ana's knee, "There should be a first aid kit in here somewhere. I can try to stitch it up."

Ana nodded and sighed, "You know, the last time I had stitches I was eight? We were visiting my Grandma Peggy and I fell out of the apple tree in her front yard. That woman brought me inside and stitched up my knee while she scolded me in that British accent of hers."

Bucky smirked as he pulled out the first aid kit. He opened the small white box and luckily there was a suture and threat inside. He threaded the suture and said to Ana, "Keep on talking, this will probably hurt a bit."

Ana hated needles, ever since she was a child she always cried at the sight of them. But today Ana forced herself to look away and did as Bucky told her to do, "My mom's mom served in World War Two, that's my grandma Peggy. She's a tough one, everyone says I look like her when she was young. You know she lives on Long Island now? I grew up in Washington DC because Dad had to be near work but every break, every long weekend, and for a month in the summer we would go visit her. Ever since my grandfather died Grams has been lonely, but she'll never admit that to anyone. You know, she used to be in love with Captain America? When I was little she used to tell me all about him, it was great," Ana smiled, "I haven't seen her since before I left for Russia."

The whole time Bucky listened. He soaked up every work Ana was saying as he gently stiched her wound back together. Never once did she cry out, or complain, she just kept talking about her grandmother. It was the first time Ana didn't look sad when she talked about someone she was related to.

"She sounds like a great woman," Bucky said as he finished stitching the gash on Ana's ribs.

Ana smiled, "She is, you know that whole kissing you thing I did back there? That's something Grams would have done."

"She would have acted recklessly?" Bucky asked as he packed the first Aid kit away, "You should be able to stand and move around."

"Thanks," Ana said as she pushed herself to her feet, "I'm going to forget that last statement. Let's go find your contacts and cross the border before night fall."

...

Ana didn't like walking into a Russian mobster's manson. Hell, she didn't like that they stole a car to get to said mobster's hide out. But there she was, battered, bruised, with dried blood on her shirt, and standing outside a large yellow manson. By the time they got to the manson the sun was setting over the trees. The manson was impressive, large, with a heavy wooden door, and huge gardens leading up to the door. Two very large, and very angry looking men stood outside on either side of the doors.

"This is an awful idea," Ana muttered to Bucky as they stood outside waiting for someone to open the door. The two guards kept looking the pair up and down. Ana glanced at one and decided she would last a solid five seconds, Bucky on the other hand could probably last a lot longer.

"Well princess," Bucky smirked as he glanced at Ana over his shoulder, "Stay close to me and everything will be alright."

Ana snorted and folded her arms over her chest, "Sure, says the guy that seems to attract danger."

Bucky smirked as the door was pulled open. A man stood holding the door open with an annoyed look on his face. He was a few inches shorter than Ana, with long gray hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. His hawk like eyes shifted between Ana and Bucky as his scowl deepened.

"Ah, Winter Soldier I didn't think we would be meeting again since our, agreement," the man spoke Russian with a slight Ukrainian accent.

Ana knitted her brows together as she tried to keep up with the conversation that was unfolding. Her Russian was good, but not this good.

"Shadrova, it's good to see you too," Bucky said as he forced himself into the manson. Ana followed after him and was instantly hit with the stench of hard alcohol. The entryway of the manson had tall ceilings with white decorative molding. The floors were freshly waxed black and white tile that Ana almost slipped on upon entry. Fine art lined the walls of the entryway and a Japanese painted vase sat on a small table beneath what appeared to be an original Van Gogh. A huge marble staircase lead up to the second floor while a door beside it lead to what appeared to be a library. Ana could see men sitting in the library along with quite a few women. They were drinking and smoking but had stopped when the saw the two newcomers.

The Ukrainian mobster didn't looked to be surprised by Bucky's brashness. Bucky stood so Ana was positioned between the door and his back so he could keep an eye out incase of any trouble. The mobster stood in front of the pair with his arms folded over his chest and an annoyed look on his already scrunched up face, "I thought we had a deal, I gave you money, you give me privacy."

"Well," Bucky said with ease, "Deals change. I want something else from you Shadrova."

"What could you possibly want?" Shadrova spat as his hawk eyes flicked to Ana.

Bucky took a half step in front of Ana to shield her from Shadrova's gaze before saying, "My companion and I need to get across the Ukrainian border. You're the best smuggler in the area, you're going to get us across the border."

Shadrova instantly started to laugh. He threw his head back and laughed so hard that he gripped his stomach and tears were wielding from the corners of his eyes, "Do you think I want the Russian's on me? Why would I help you? The fearsome Winter Soldier begging for _my _help! Ha, that is a good one. Sure, I'll smuggle you over the border if you leave that pretty little girl here, my men would really enjoy her."

Ana's eyes moved from the Mobster to the women in the back room. It all clicked, he was running a prostitution ring. They were getting help from a man who was running a prostitution ring.

The self righteous do gooder part of Ana told her this was bad. It made her stomach flip, how many of those girls actually wanted to be here? Any one of them could have been kidnapped or sold to this man. Thinking about it all made Anas' stomach flip.

But the survival side of Ana told her that they needed this. They needed a way across the border, even if they accepted help from this slime of a man.

"She's mine," Bucky hissed as his metal hand clenched into a fist.

Shadrova smirked, "Protective I see, and here I thought you only had a soft spot for that Romanov girl. What was her name, Natasha?"

Ana's brows knitted together as she glanced at Bucky. She knew that name, Natasha Romanov was a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. Natasha was the famed Black Widow, Ana trained were her a few times when she was first starting out. Ana found Natasha to be cold at first, but the more you got to know her she grew pleasant. But Ana had no idea Natasha and Bucky had a past together.

"If you don't agree to help us I can have the Russian police here in less than ten minutes, and you wouldn't want your little business getting busted now would you?" Bucky threatened.

Sensing Bucky was being very serious Shadrova muttered a few curses under his breath, "Fine. I'll get you two across the border tomorrow morning. Nadia!"

A tall blond woman with way too much makeup on came out of the back room. She was dressed in a black corset and fish net stockings which were accompanied by six inch heels. She looked Bucky up and down before smirking like a cat that just caught it's prey.

"Yes sir?" She asked.

"Take these two upstairs to one of the guest rooms and make sure, they're comfortable."

...

The room Shadrova gave the pair was a large dark room with dark furniture that overlooked a pool. Normally Ana would have thought this was a nice room, if she didn't have to share it with Bucky. During her short stay at the apartment Ana slept on the couch and Bucky slept in his room. Now there was just a bed and the floor.

Ana called the bed.

Bucky was looking through Ana's backpack while Ana sat on the bed towel drying her hair. The room had an attached bathroom that Ana immediately used in order to get rid of all the dried blood that was in her hair and on her face. She was careful not to tear open her stitches when she was toweling herself off, the last thing Ana wanted was to vent again to Bucky.

Now she was just sitting there in a pair of sweatpants and one of Bucky's black long sleeve shirts. The shirt dwarfed her small form but it was warmer than anything Ana brought.

"Why do you carry a taser?" Bucky asked as he held up the small device. He was currently standing at the foot of the bed in a fitted tee shirt that Ana was forcing herself not to stare at. No matter how badly Ana wanted to deny it, Bucky was attractive.

"It took down a god," Ana said as she fondly recalled the story Darcy Lewis told her about Thor, "So I thought it deserved a place in my survival pack."

Bucky smirked and shook his head as he put the taser back, "You know a gun works just as well."

Ana shrugged, "I don't like knowing I can kill someone so easily."

"It's kill or be killed, princess," Bucky said as he tossed the bag onto the bed next to Ana.

"What are you doing?" Ana asked as she tossed her dark hair over her shoulder. Bucky sat down on the opposite side of the bed and was hunched over as he tried to take his shoes off.

Bucky fumbled with the laces a few times before grunting and snapping, "Going to bed, which is what you should be doing, princess."

Ana's eyebrows shot up, "Oh no, no, no. There is no way in hell you're sleeping in the same bed as me!"

Bucky smirked at Ana over his shoulder, "You kissed me first, this is what adults do after they kiss."

Ana's cheeks flushed a deep red as she scowled and placed the bag between them, "I know what adults do!" She snapped before tossing the towel onto the floor and standing, "And apparently so do you," she picked up her pillow and began to fluff it awkwardly, "So, you and Natasha?"

Bucky stood and shrugged as he unzipped his pants and pulled them down revealing a pair of black boxers. Ana instantly tried to look anywhere but at Bucky. Bucky normally would have teased Ana about her reaction but his mind was elsewhere, "It's in the past."

"Oh yeah," Ana said as she finished fluffing her pillow and pulled the covers back, "We all have those ex's. Look, if you want to talk about it that may be good, it could help you bring other memories back."

"Look Ana," Bucky began as he mimicked her and pulled back his side of the bed, "I don't want to talk about it. I've thought about it for years, it doesn't bring anything back."

Ana nodded as she ran her hands over her arms. Even with the heat on and wearing Bucky's shirt she was still cold. Quickly, Ana stole a glance at Bucky's defined legs. They looked strong, slightly tanned, and powerful, "Aren't you going to be cold in that, get up?"

Bucky shook his head as he settled into bed, "Probably not, I haven't felt the cold for a long time."

"Lucky," Ana muttered as she slipped into bed. The mattress was a welcome relief from the day she had. She turned so she was facing Bucky and found that he was doing the same.

"You know it's good to share body heat," Bucky said with a smirk.

Ana rolled her eyes, "You wish," she muttered before rolling over so she felt the backpack that was lying between them.

Bucky tucked his metal arm behind his head as he smirked, "Sure, princess."


	8. Chapter Eight: Boarder Jumping

**AN: So guys I think this is one of the longest chapters yet, I hope you enjoy it and leave a review!**

Chapter Eight: Border Jumping

The next morning Bucky woke up before Ana did. Much to his surprise, he was lying on his back with his metal arm tucked under his head and his real arm wrapped firmly around Ana's waist. Ana was on her side resting her head on Bucky's chest. One of her arms were draped carelessly across his chest and she was straddling his thigh. Her chest was rising and falling calmly.

Bucky smirked to himself; it was clear who moved around more in their sleep. He was still in the same position that he fell asleep in the night before. It wasn't strange for Bucky to not move in his sleep, he sleep very lightly from years of Soviet training. But that night he slept soundly. Normally, Ana half climbing on him would have woken Bucky up, but he didn't remember waking up.

He glance down at the brunette who was still sleeping soundly on his chest. While laying there he noticed little things; like how Ana had light freckles around her eyes and nose. Bucky noticed she had streaks of subtle natural red throughout her chocolate brown hair. His hand subconsciously ran down Ana's subtle curves. She wasn't like Natasha, no Natasha was lethal. Ana was, well, Ana was Ana.

Bucky tried to shake the thoughts away, she was nothing but a pawn to get his identity back. But right now, he would allow himself to enjoy it for a moment.

The feeling of Ana stirring against him brought Bucky out of his thoughts. He glanced down and saw a pair of big brown bedroom eyes blinking up at him. For a moment Bucky thought about teasing Ana but instead he resorted to smiling and saying, "Good morning."

This gained a better reaction from Ana than he expected. Ana's eyes snapped open and she pushed herself up. Her face was a bright shade of scarlet, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

Bucky smirked, "I told you body heat was good."

"Right," Ana said as she rubbed her eyes and groaned, "What time is it?"

"Don't know," Bucky said as he glanced at Ana. Her hair was a mess but it looked adorable, "Probably around four or five."

Ana yawned and stretched her arms over her head, "I'd kill to sleep until eight."

Bucky sat up and glanced down at his hands, "Don't worry, in a few weeks you'll be back in American."

Ana was about to say some snide sarcastic remark when she looked over her shoulder and saw Bucky sitting there. For the first time since they met Bucky looked vulnerable. His dark hair was hanging in his face as he stared down at his hands.

Carefully Ana shifted so she was sitting cross legged in front of him, "Does it bother you, the arm?"

"I hate it," Bucky muttered bitterly, "But it's a part of me."

"You know," Ana said in a soft voice, "I was working with Dumanovsky so I could learn how to replicate something like that. But when I returned to America I was going to compare it my research there that would enable skin to grow so it would appear to be an organic arm," she began to twist a piece of hair around her finger and she bit down on her lower lip softly, "You could be the first one to undergo the procedure if you want."

Bucky looked up into Ana's brown eyes expecting to see lies, but that wasn't what he saw. Bucky couldn't detect a lie, all he saw was sincerity, "What would you do if you were me?"

"Honestly," Ana said as she hesitantly placed a hand on his metal arm, "I wouldn't change a thing. This is a part of you, but it doesn't define you unless you let it."

Bucky snorted as he glanced at the stark contrast between Ana's pale hand and the dark metal of his arm, "That's easy for you to say. You're not living with this."

"You're right," Ana said, "I'm not living with it but I'm here for you. I know what it's like to be in pain and I know what it's like to feel like you have no one to turn to. I'm sure you don't exactly want to vent to me, but just know that if you want to I'll listen."

Bucky nodded slightly but didn't lift his gaze. He knew Ana was being sincere, he could tell by how calm her voice was. He continued to study her hand which was still lying on his arm while he asked, "What happened to your brother that made you hate your father?"

Ana didn't know how Bucky picked up on that. She stiffened slightly and much to Bucky's dismay she took her hand off her arm to run it through her hair, "I told you how he died last night but there is more to that story. Our father always liked to make sure everyone realized that he didn't play favorites. Well, he sent Will into that town fully knowing that there was a bomb there. He had the choice between sending my brother's trop or another trop, and well he chose Wills. I've hated him since then because he still believe he was doing what was right 'for the country'."

"What did your mother do?" Bucky asked as she glanced at Ana.

Ana shrugged, "She threatened a divorce, but she does that a lot so it's nothing new," she sighed.

"Sounds like a messed up way to grow up," Bucky muttered.

That earned a smirk from Ana, "Yeah, no wonder why we all hated each other. Will didn't though, he was our glue. When he died we all fell apart, I haven't talked to my family in a little over a year."

"Why?" Bucky couldn't understand why Ana alienated herself from everyone so much.

Ana shrugged again, "We weren't raised to be close, so we just kind of drifted apart," she shook her head, "Enough about me, please tell me what's going on inside that head of yours."

Bucky snorted and smirked, "Aren't you a doctor? You should be able to figure it out."

"I'm a biomedical engineer," Ana corrected as she pointed a finger at him in a joking manner, "Not a psychiatrist, I make brains I don't understand them."

Bucky rolled his eyes and sighed, "Fine, Dr. Baker, I just want to connect the pieces but, part of me is afraid to. I'm not a good man; I remember the things I've done in the past five years and they aren't good. I've killed people in more ways than you can imagine. I don't want to know what else I've done."

Ana placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder this time. He stared into her brown eyes as she smiled softly, "The past does not define you, Bucky. It's how you learn from it that defines you. Good men can do bad things sometimes," Ana said as she gently rubbed his shoulder.

Bucky nodded but it didn't make him feel any better. Imagines of all the people he remembered killing flashed through his mind. He reached up and gave Ana's hand a squeeze before sighing and standing, "We have to get ready. With any luck Shadrova will have us across the border by nine o'clock."

"Right," Ana said as she stood and rose onto her tip toes to stretch, "Enough of this touching moment. We have people to track down and kill," Ana said as she grabbed the bag that was lying between the them last night. Ana pulled out a pair of jeans and a shirt but Bucky stopped her.

"You can keep my shirt," Bucky said as he pulled on a new pair of jeans and threw his ruined ones away.

Ana glanced down at the shirt, "Really, are you sure?"

"Yeah, looks better on you anyway," Bucky said as he pulled on his jacket.

"Thanks," Ana muttered as she took off her sweat pants and pulled on the jeans. Ana didn't care that she saw Bucky staring at her as she pulled the jeans over her rear, "Bucky, what do you think we should do once we get into the Ukraine?"

Bucky pulled on his black leather jacket and boots, "Once in the Ukraine we'll catch a train from Kharkiv to Lust'k where we can either spend the night or I'll find us a car. Then we'll hop the border into Poland where I know a few people that can help us."

Ana nodded as she pulled on her own jacket and boots, "We have to avoid S.H.I.E.L.D as much as possible. By now they've probably sent a few agents to look for me, they're highly trained, extremely intelligent, and very dangerous."

Bucky only smirked, "You seem to forget who I am," Bucky said as he smirked and strapped a gun to his waist.

Ana smirked as she pulled her hair back into a bun. For once Ana believe Bucky when he said he could get them there safely. Ana threw her bag over her shoulders and buckled the straps, "Well, we better get going then."

Bucky nodded in agreement, "Yes we should. Just one thing, don't talk to Shadrova. I don't trust him even if he is helping us."

...

An hour later Ana and Bucky were packed into a truck heading for the Ukrainian border. The pair were lying in a secret spot beneath the bed of the truck. It was extremely tight pressed and uncomfortable. Ana was trying to breath slowly and calmly in the inch of space she had between her nose and top of the compartment. Bucky was lying beside her in an equal amount of discomfort. Their shoulders were pressed tightly together and the bag was laying on Ana's stomach.

"Claustrophobic?" Bucky asked.

Ana shrugged, "A bit, what about you?"

"I'm fine, now shut up I need to think," Bucky snapped.

Ana rolled her eyes as she laid there. Ana was slowly getting used to Bucky's mood swings. One moment he was fine, the next he was temperamental and unstable. Ana knew it was the brainwashing; Bucky was having trouble connecting everything. Ana wished she knew more about the brain and how she could help him; but she wasn't a neuroscientist, she was an engineer.

Silently, Ana shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Inside, Ana was panicking more than she was letting on. She hated closed, uncomfortable places, with little light, and knowing that she had no control over it all. All around her, Ana could feel the car shaking, turning, and coming to a gradual stop.

The sound of doors slamming caused Ana to open her eyes. She tightened her grip on the bag as the sound of men speaking in Ukrainian seeped into the compartment.

"Can you understand them?" Ana whispered to Bucky in English.

"I don't speak Ukrainian," Bucky muttered, "I can understand a few Russian cognates but not everything."

Ana nodded then asked, "So, what are they saying?"

"Don't you speak Russian yourself?" Bucky snapped in a harsh voice.

"I can't hear them as well as you can," Ana snapped back, "You know you can be a real-"

Before Ana could finish her thoughts the trap door was being ripped open. A strong hand grabbed a hold of Ana's forearm and roughly dragged her out of the compartment. The stranger threw Ana to the ground and threw the bag down beside her. Ana groaned as she felt a few of her stitches tear open from the impact of the thrown. Ana blinked a few times a she heard Bucky being torn out from the compartment.

Slowly, she pushed herself up on her elbows and saw a pair of black boots. Groaning Ana looked up into the face of a smirking agent with an octopus on his shoulder.

_Hydra._

"Good job Shadrova," the man had a German accent. The man smirked and knelt down taking Ana's chin into his hand, "Ana Baker, we've been looking for you."

The man dragged Ana to her feet by her arm and smirked, "You've caused a lot of people a lot of trouble for that pretty little thing on your shoulders," the man mocked Ana as he tapped her on the forehead with his index finger. The corners of his lips turned up in an evil smirk.

Ana's eyes flickered over to Bucky who was being held back by a pair of Hydra agents. Bucky was trashing and firing off German swears at the men holding him back. Ana turned back to the man holding her arm and narrowed her eyes.

"Well, you have them both. Where is my payment?!" Shadrova snapped as he stood in front of two of his men with his arms folded over his chest.

The Hydra agent that was holding onto Ana rolled his eyes with an annoyed expression. With a nonchalant expression the Hydra Agent drew a pistol from his belt and fired three shots, killing Shadrova and his two men instantly. Ana watched the three men drop to the ground dead, eyes wide in horror. For a moment Bucky stopped struggling and watched as the three men laid there on the ground bleeding from the bullet wounds in their heads.

The Hydra agent shook his head with a smirk, "Tisk, tisk, tisk, such a shame. Now I have to buy more bullets," the man put his pistol back into the holster, "Where were we, ah, I was going to begin my threats. You see, you have something Hydra wants, and Hydra get's what Hydra wants."

"I have nothing Hydra wants," Ana hissed as she tried to wrench her arm out of his grip. The man's grip only tightened to an almost bruising grip. Ana tried to keep herself from crying out as she gritted her teeth together in bitter disdain.

The agent laughed, "Oh my dear, you are so silly. It is hard to believe that a silly girl like you is the head of medical research for S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Mock me if you wish," Ana said in a demanding voice, "But never mock my intelligence."

"Then do what I ask," the Hydra Agent bent over slightly so he was face to face with Ana, "You are going to come with me and use that pretty little head of yours to fix," he pointed to Bucky who was still being restrained, "Him."

Ana looked at Bucky with a panicked expression then turned back to the Hydra agent, "I'd rather die."

The Hydra agent smirked, "Then you will."

"Don't touch her!" Bucky called out.

The Hydra agent looked between Ana and Bucky, "It appears that you two have grown close. Such a shame that our little doctor here will have to die."

Ana heard Bucky cry out as he freed himself from his restrainers. Bucky freed his bionic arm long enough for one of the fingers to open up into a shiv that he then proceeded to stab the other man holding him in the eye. Ana watched in a mixture of horror and amazement as Bucky pulled the shiv out of the man's eye and proceeded to slash the other's throat.

He was lethal. For the first time Ana was seeing how dangerous Bucky was. He moved with such finesse and accuracy. It was scary in a way, he took lives with such ease. Bucky didn't blink as one of the men tried shooting him, and he didn't blink when he took the man's wrist, snapped it, and shot the man with his own pistol.

Ana was brought back to when she shot the android. She was shocked by how easy it was to simply kill a man. All it took was one trigger, one pull, and someone was dead. Bucky was doing it now with such ease and little care. Aa wasn't sure weather or not to be amazed or horrified.

Before Ana could analyze anything else, the Hydra agent tried to drag her off. Ana knew she had to think quickly, if she got away from Bucky then she would surely be dead. Quickly, and without much thought, Ana reached to where she strapped her taser to her lower back and pulled it out. Then, Ana brought the taser to the man's neck and activated the taser. The electric current ran into the man's neck and he dropped his pistol then began shaking as the electricity ran through his body. Ana took the taser off and balled her hand into a fist before colliding it with the man's head. The man took a step back with a shocked expression as his nose began to bleed.

While Ana was smirking like and idiot with pride the Hydra agent raised his gloved fingers to his nose which was badly bleeding, "You're going to pay for that bitch."

Before Ana could react or the Hydra agent could enact any sort of revenge a bullet lodged itself between his eyes. Ana glanced over her shoulder and saw Bucky standing there, his eyes nearly black, holding the pistol that killed the Hydra Agent. When Ana noticed how dark Bucky's eyes were, she herself started to panic.

"Bucky," Ana said in a calm voice as she raised her hands and slowly walked towards, "It's Ana, please Bucky they're dead just drop the gun."

Ana looked around at the bodies that were lying in the clearing. Four men of the seven men, including the Hydra Agent, were lying dead-

All killed by Bucky.

"I'm your friend Bucky, please just drop the gun," Ana begged as she reached out to put a hand on his arm. She saw then that there was a bullet hole in the bionic arm, "Put down the gun Bucky, we'll cross the border and I'll fix your arm."

"Bucky saw Ana standing there. He heard her voice pulling him back from the predatory state he was in. Slowly, Bucky dropped his arm that was holding the gun then let the pistol fall to the ground.

Ana let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding in, "See, it's as easy as that. Does your arm hurt?"

Bucky looked down at the bullet holes in his arm, "I didn't notice them."

Ana cursed under her breath. The bullet holes went down into the wiring of the arm, it was something she could easily fix with the right tools, "Alright I have an idea. If we follow this path in the truck then it'll probably cross the border. Once we're in Kharkiv I'll fix your arm. Can you move it?"

Bucky looked down and tried to move his arm. But, without adrenalin in his system it was useless, "I can't drive," Bucky said in an annoyed tone.

"Then I will, come on," Ana said as she picked up her bag and walked over to the black truck. She threw the bag into the back seat before hoisting herself into the front seat. Bucky walked around to the passengers side and with ease got into the passengers seat. The pair slammed the doors before Ana turned the keys, roaring the engine to a start. She casted Bucky a look, "Are you alright, your eyes are still a bit black."

"I'm fine," Bucky snapped, "Just get us out of here."

Ana nodded before shifting the truck into drive and roaring down the dirt road.


	9. Chapter Nine: Science

**AN: Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, school's been really busy.**

* * *

Chapter Nine: Science

Getting across the border was easy. The dirt road lead to a small Ukrainian village where they passed through with ease. Ana was able to navigate the truck onto the highway and began scanning the signs for Kharkiv. She glanced over at Bucky who was sitting in his seat staring a head. The two hadn't breathed a word to each other since they crossed the border nearly three hours ago.

"How does it feel?" Ana asked as she nodded to the arm.

Bucky glanced down and scowled, "The sensors turned off a few hours ago, I can't feel anything."

"Shit, it's going to be a lot harder to fix now," Ana muttered as she scanned the signs. There was a sign saying that the Kharkiv exit was twenty miles away. She glanced over and noticed Bucky's eyes were going black then reverting back to their normal bright blue, "Bucky, I need you to tell me what's going on right now."

Bucky was shocked by the authoritative tone in Ana's voice. His head was pounding and his vision was blurring. Bucky felt as if he was losing control and that was the last thing he wanted to do with Ana at such a close proximity to him. With his organic arm, Bucky squeezed the side of the truck as he tried to focus enough to speak, "My head, it's pounding. I feel like I'm losing control."

"Listen to me," Ana urged in the calmest voice she could manage, "You're going to be okay, I promise. We're going to go a short twenty miles then we'll find a hotel room and I'll fix your arm. It's going to be okay, I'm not going to let you lose control."

Bucky snorted, "What can you do?! You can't stop this, no one can."

"I can knock you out," Ana said, "It's not the best idea but it will keep you from losing control."

"How are you going to do that and drive?" Bucky asked.

Ana reached down and picked up the taser that was lying between the two, "I'll hold the taser to your neck long enough to knock you out."

"Are you crazy?" Bucky asked as Ana turned on her blinker and changed lanes, "That could short circuit everything in my arm."

"Look it was just an idea," Ana snapped, "If your arm short circuited then I could easily fix it. If you black out I can't fix that! We'll be to Kharkiv in a half and hour I need you to hold on Bucky, please just keep on talking and stay focused."

Bucky nodded and took a deep breath. He tried to focus on the cars in front of them without having a minor blackout, "I almost grabbed you on the train that day, when I first saw you. But I thought you would get the files before Hydra did, that I wasn't expecting."

"How long were you tracking me?" Ana asked as she glanced in her rear view mirror.

"Three months. I knew who you were, looked you up, and found out why you were in Russia. I knew it was a matter of time before Dumanovsky gave you those documents then I was simply going to kill you and take them," Bucky said in a calm voice. He glanced over at Ana who was tightening her grip on the wheel. Her knuckles were white but she didn't say anything, "You were just a pawn, a stupid pawn who didn't know how to keep her mouth shut."

"So what changed?" Ana asked in a slightly bitter voice.

"You're not that bad of a person," Bucky said, "A little annoying at times but, not that bad, I was wrong to count you out so quickly. I'm glad I didn't kill you, you're more useful than you appear."

Ana glanced at a sign that said they only have ten miles to go until they reached Kharkiv, "Yeah, I'm glad you didn't kill me either, it'd be such a shame to die."

Bucky nodded as he shut his eyes and let out a long sigh, "I have dreams sometimes of this train and I'm falling. There's someone trying to help me but it's too late and I fall."

"Do you think it could be a memory?" Ana asked as she glanced over to Bucky.

Bucky had just opened his eyes once more and was sitting there. His eyes were back to their normal blue color, "I don't know. It would make sense if it was, but I don't know."

Ana nodded, "Maybe you should start writing this all down, you know to keep everything in order and have records."

"Maybe," he said as Ana glanced at another sign, "We're almost there."

"I know, once were there we'll find someplace quiet to check on your wounds," Ana glanced at him one more time, "Just please, stay with me," Bucky looked down as Ana grabbed his hand with the hand she wasn't driving with, "Just stay with me please."

...

Bucky didn't remember falling asleep. Slowly, Bucky opened his eyes and saw nothing but a brick wall in front of him. Bucky felt someone touching his arm and looked to the right, Ana was sitting on her feet hunched over his arm. A veil of dark hair was covering her face as she tinkered away. Bucky could see that her brows were knitted together, she was biting down on her lower lip, and there was a crease in her brow. For a few minutes he just wanted how Ana worked. Ana worked with such precision with nothing but a pair of tweezers and what looked to be a pick.

Bucky went to move but Ana's voice stopped him, "Don't do that," she said but didn't move, "If you move you'll connect the nerve wires which will make you feel everything I'm doing."

"Oh, alright," Bucky said in an unsure tone, "How long have I been out?"

"Three hours," Ana muttered, "I was hoping you weren't going to wake up until I was done. But it's fine; just don't move."

Bucky nodded and sighed, "So, where are we?"

Ana picked at something and cursed under her breath as she gently pulled out one of the bullet's that were lodged in Bucky's arm, "Kharkiv, I found a computer shop and got some things to fix your arm. I've been working on it for the past two hours."

"And you're not done?" Bucky asked.

"You know, I could connect the sense wires and watch you squirm," Ana muttered as she took out another bullet, "Whoever shot you knew what they were doing. The bullets are almost impossible to get out."

Bucky smirked, "So how come you can manage to get them out?"

For the first time Ana looked up and smiled, "Because I'm just gifted," she joked before looking back down at Bucky's arm. She had one more bullet to remove but she wasn't trying to get the third bullet. Bucky watched as Ana tried to bend the metal back so it would slightly close, "This is strange, I've seen this type of metal before. It's called Vibranium, it's what Captain America's shield is made out of. Nothing should be able to pierce this except Vibranium bullet but, the thing about vibranium is that it's incredibly hard to get a hold of. Hydra must have issued some bullets to their agents, and if Hydra has vibranium we're in trouble."

Bucky didn't pretend to understand, Ana was smarter than him that was easy to see. Slowly, Bucky nodded and looked down as Ana struggled to bend the metal back into place. She hissed and cursed, "I can't move this. Maybe if we can find a welder I can weld it back into place but for now I'm going to remove the last bullet then connect the wires."

"I can't walk around with bullet holes in my arm, Ana," Bucky muttered as Ana moved a few wires so they were sticking out of the bullet hole.

"Shh," Ana hissed as she slowly removed the last bullet. She dropped the bullet into her cup holder with the other two bullets, "Okay," Ana said as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail, "I'm going to connect the wires. I don't know how much pain you're going to be in just please don't jump."

Bucky rolled his eyes, "I think I can manage that."

Ana chuckled and rolled her eyes as she took out a strip of rubber and a lighter. Bucky's eyes went wide as Ana flicked the lighter on and held it under the rubber. Slowly, the rubber started to melt until it was melting onto the wires. When she had enough, Ana took her finger off the lighter and with two fingers moved the wires were touching. Bucky hissed as the feeling came back to his arm.

"Told you it may hurt," Ana muttered with a smirk as she continued connecting the wires until Bucky could move his hand, "There," she said with a smile, "All better, right?"

"You're pretty good," Bucky said with a smirk.

Ana smiled, "Well, what can I say, I am pretty good," Ana sighed and took her hair out of the elastic, "So I was thinking, we shouldn't travel by train."

"Why not?" Bucky asked as he wiggled his fingers.

"Because trains have security cameras. Hydra could be tracking us so I say we just drive straight across the Ukraine then slip into Poland," Ana said as she started the truck.

"Won't Hydra notice the car?" Bucky asked.

Ana shook her head, "No, you killed all of them remember? Look, I'm exhausted and it's almost midnight, why don't we find a place to spend the night?"

Bucky nodded, "Alright, lets do it."

******Ana didn't say anything as she started the truck and backed out of the alley. **


	10. Chapter Ten: Skeletons

**_AN_: I'm so sorry it's been so long guys! I've had so much school work to do and I'm working on college stuff, also I have an interview coming up this weekend which I'm really excited about! This chapter as some fluff, well as much fluff as Ana and Bucky can have. Leave a review and enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Ten: Skeletons

The only hotel that was open was a small mom and pop place above a butchers. Ana didn't care- she was exhausted. Bucky was able to arrange the stay awhile Ana just stood there trying not to fall asleep standing up. By the time they got to the room Ana didn't care that there was only one bed. She tossed her book bag onto the small chair beside the bed and groaned.

For the past hour she heard her phone going off. Ana was surprised that it still had life as she took it out from her book bag and narrowed her eyes. There was only one message that was flashing across the screen along with the low battery sign.

_Please tell me you're alive. I don't care what you're doing, I don't care if you don't want to talk to us anymore- I'd understand. But I just want to know if you're alive. Mom's a mess, Dad's well dad. Will would want to know. Please, Ana just tell us- Katherine_

Ana's stomach turned. She knew everyone must be worried sick, nearly a week and a half had passed since her disappearance. Slowly, Ana stood and held her phone. She had to think quickly, either let her family know she was alive and risk being found or keep them wondering.

"Screw guilt," Ana muttered to herself as her fingers flew across the screen.

_I'm alive- Ana _

The simple two words would tie her family over until Ana was able to return. She glanced over her shoulder at the door where Bucky left fifteen minutes earlier. He was going out to find them food since neither ate all day. Ana knew Bucky would extremely mad if he knew what she did, so Ana took her mobile and threw it as hard as she could out the window. If it broke, it broke Ana didn't care. Right now she had bigger things to worry about.

Sighing Ana slipped out of her jeans and pulled on the sweatpants and the only sweatshirt she packed. The small room barely had any heat so bundling up would be a necessity. Ana shuttered as she rubbed her hands together and blew on them before diving under the blankets. The sheets were itchy but at this point Ana didn't care; she just craved sleep.

Ana rubbed the back of her neck as she stared at the door. She half expected Bucky to wake up and struggle more than he did while she was fixing his arm. But, much to Ana's surprise he seemed to be in a trace while he watched her work. Maybe he wasn't as bad as she originally thought. Ana admitted that she could see more of the man under the assassin but there were still things she didn't understand about him.

Ana was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of the door creaking open. She jumped slightly and looked up only to see Bucky standing there with a bag of McDonalds in his hand.

"My hero," Ana joked as Bucky shut and locked the door behind him.

Bucky smirked as he sat down on the bed in front of Ana and opened the bag, "Chicken nuggets or a burger?"

"Nuggets," Ana said as Bucky took out a ten piece and handed it to the awaiting doctor.

"I've never had McDonalds before," Bucky said in a small voice as he opened his burger.

"Really?" Ana asked as she opened the small box and took out a nugget, "The first time I ever had McDonalds was when I was a freshmen in college. It's part of the reason why I gained ten pounds that year."

Bucky smirked and snuck a glance at Ana. Under her baggy sweatshirt and sweatpants she had subtle curves. She wasn't the type of person that you would find gorgeous upon first meeting them. Was she beautiful, yes it was safe to say she was. Sure, her hair was a mess from her at home cut, and she had dark bags under her eyes, but Ana was a beautiful woman.

Bucky wondered why he hadn't noticed it before.

"You're staring," Ana muttered as she ate her third chicken nugget.

"Sorry," Bucky said in a hurried voice as he took a bite of his burger. It was surprisingly, bearable, "This isn't, awful."

Ana watched him for a moment then smirked, "It's awful compared to this burger place a few blocks down from my apartment in New York. Maybe after this is all done you can come back to New York with me for a bit while you organize your life."

Bucky smiled, "I'd like that, it would be good to have one friend when this is all done."

With a smirk Ana arched an eyebrow, "Oh, so we're friends now? I'm not just an asset?"

"I've never had a friend before," Bucky muttered, "Well, that I can remember. It would be nice to have someone to trust."

Ana smiled, "Well, you'll have a friend in me, on one condition. I don't want you killing anyone unless you have to."

Bucky put his burger down and sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. He was still shocked by how well Ana mended his arm, even with the three holes he had full function of every aspect, "The world doesn't work that way Ana. Sometimes it's kill or be killed."

"I know that," Ana said as she took a fry out of the bag and bit the top off, "But if you can avoid it, please do. Once you find out who you are you're free Bucky," she offered him a smile, "Everything will make sense. Then who knows what you'll do, hell you could find a woman, fall in love, and start a family."

Bucky snorted as he stole the other half of the fry out of Ana's fingers and ate it before she could protest, "What woman would want me?"

"Well," Ana said as she took a sip of Bucky's soda that was sitting between the two of them, "When you're not being a walled up asshole, you're not a bad guy. Hell, I'd give you a solid seven, maybe eight, on the looks scale. Well that is when you aren't brooding."

"Wow, that was almost a compliment," Bucky smirked and shook his head.

Much to his surprise, Ana started to laugh. He looked over when he heard her snorting and laughing only to see the brilliant doctor holding her stomach. Bucky arched an eyebrow and tried to control his own laughter that was bellowing in his throat, "What's so funny?"

"It's just," Ana started but stopped to wipe a tear from her eye and take a deep breath, "It's been years since I've laughed this hard with anyone. I don't have many friends, so doing these late night talks is rare for me."

"Well they're nonexistent for me," Bucky muttered as he smirked at Ana. She was shoving another chicken nugget into her mouth and still smiling. Bucky noted a single tear that was running down Ana's face.

He smiled. From what he remembered, he made people cry before but never from joy or happiness. Slowly, Bucky leaned forward until he could see the light freckles around Ana's eyes. She sat there, perfectly still, as Bucky reached one metal finger forward and wiped away the tear. He let his finger linger there for a moment before taking his thumb and brushing it along Ana's cheek as he held her face. Slowly, Bucky ran his thumb over Ana's lips and felt their soft velvety texture. He began leaning in, hesitant and fearful towards her lips. Bucky felt Ana leaning towards him as if she was willing to meet him halfway.

Bucky couldn't. He couldn't drag Ana down this dark hole with him. It was bad enough she was here, and now he was trying to kiss her. Bucky stopped before their lips could touch and pressed his forehead to Ana's. Her eyes were shut be he studied her face for a moment. Bucky could tell she was slightly shocked and disappointed as he ran his thumb over her lips once more.

"We need to sleep," Bucky muttered.

Finally Ana opened her eyes. Brown eyes stared into blue as she nodded but never moved her forehead from his, "We do."

Without saying another word, Bucky forced himself to move away from Ana. He began picking up the mess they made and even picked up Ana's trash. Before she could ask him any questions, Bucky stood and walked into the small bathroom that was attached to the room. He tossed the trash into the basket under the sink then walked back into the room where Ana was already under the covers. Her back was turned towards Bucky as he slipped into the bed without making a sound. Bucky settled down onto the lumpy mattress before turning over so his back was to Ana.

At that moment; Bucky promised himself that he wouldn't damn Ana by attaching her to him. He couldn't do that; she had a life to go back to and couldn't be held back by hum. But he would do one thing, he would make sure he did whatever it took to get Ana back to that life.

The next morning Bucky woke up alone. He was facing were Ana was sleeping hours before but her spot was empty. He heard the shower turn off and Bucky slowly turned over just as he heard Ana step out of the shower and curse under her breath. The door clicked open and Ana walked out wrapped in a towel with her hair a wet mess. When she saw Bucky lying there awake she froze like a deer in headlights.

"Um, I, I didn't know you were awake," she said as she stood there.

Bucky smirked, "I see you got a nearly start."

Ana nodded as she walked across the room to where her back as sitting, "We need to get on the road and soon. Why don't you get up and get ready?"

Bucky nodded as Ana grabbed her clothes, "Are you going to take a shower or can I get changed in the bathroom?"

"No, it's all yours," Bucky said as he threw the blankets off himself.

Ana nodded and hurried into the bathroom. Her cheeks were flushed as she shut the door behind her. From inside the bathroom Ana could hear Bucky moving around in the room. Ana stared at herself in the mirror for a moment. Last night, Bucky tried to kiss her. It was strange that she almost wanted it to happen. Ana scowled and shook her head, she wasn't here to fall for Bucky she was here to help Bucky.

"You're a whole other level of fucked up," Ana muttered to herself as she pulled on her jeans and a black long sleeved tee shirt. Her hair was still wet but Ana could care less. She tossed the towels onto the rack and opened the door.

"So we should probably get going if we want to cross the country in twenty four hours," Ana said as she noticed Bucky standing there holding her phone.

Instantly Ana's blood ran cold. She threw that thing away last night after sending a text to Katherine. There was no way Bucky could have found the phone in such little time. It was still on, as if someone charged it.

Ana looked to Bucky and held up her hands, "Bucky I can-"

"Why is it beeping?!" Bucky demanded as he took a step forward.

Ana knitted her brows together, "Bucky, I don't hear anything."

Bucky's face was twisting. A high pitched screeching noise was clawing at his brain. Bucky's hand began to shake as he called out to Ana, "Do you not hear this?!"

Ana stood there for a moment then stopped, "its S.H.I.E.L.D they found us," she took the phone from Bucky and threw it on the ground before smashing the screen with the heal of her boot. From beneath Ana's foot the screen spider webbed and Bucky stood there wobbling. The ringing was gone but he still felt sick and as if he was going to pass out.

"I'm so sorry," Ana begged as she grabbed her coat and Bucky's. Ana threw her coat on then helped Bucky get into his. Bucky wobbled a bit and nearly fell over twice taking Ana with him. Once Ana was able to get Bucky into his coat she threw her bag over her shoulder and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder, "I'm so sorry. I just wanted to let my sister know that I was alive. I didn't mean for S.H.I.E.L.D to find us."

Bucky shook his head, "I-I understand. We-we have to get out of here Ana."

"I know," Ana muttered as she dragged Bucky out of the room and stood at the top of the stairs, "I know."

The outside of the building was crawling with S.H.I.E.L.D guards. They were piling out of trucks, armed, and ready for conflict. Bucky saw them too, he tightened his grip on Ana's shoulders and, against his better judgment, said, "I won't let them take you from me."

Ana nodded, "It won't happen. But I need you to do something, Bucky I need you to walk. If I have to carry you we won't get anywhere I'm not strong."

Bucky nodded and stood. His head was still hurting but he understood that they would have a better chance of survival if he could move himself, "Alright, let's find a back exit."

Before either could move Bucky grabbed Ana's hand. Ana looked down as Bucky's metal fingers entwined with hers then up at his face. His blue eyes were pouring into her brown ones, "Ready?" he asked.

Ana nodded.


	11. Chapter Eleven:

***Dodges books being thrown at me* I am so sorry I've been gone for so long! It's SAT time, and for all my American readers you'll know how great those are, and I've been doing noting but school work and studying. Well, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it's a bit quick but enjoy and leave a review! **

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Flight of the Concords

Bucky never held onto anything as tightly as Ana's hand. Their feet were beating against the pavement as they dodged the early morning risers of the small Ukrainian city. From behind him, Bucky could hear Ana breathing heavily from fear and exhaustion.

Quickly, Bucky took a left dragging Ana with him. The sound of her bag bouncing on her shoulders echoed throughout the alleyway. Bucky took another left and was welcomed with a tall brick wall that was blocking their path.

"We're trapped," Ana breathed as she stood there. Bucky was still clutching her hand as he looked up the wall, "We're trapped and they're coming."

Ana didn't know why she even returned Katherine's text the night before. Maybe it was the guilt eating away at her, or maybe in the back of her mind she wanted to be found. They had been running for almost two weeks and Ana secretly longed for home. She missed the warm comfortable air of New York City. She missed her small apartment and the few colleges that she often spent her lunch breaks with, hell Ana even missed Fury barking orders at her.

But this was a priority; she felt as if it was her moral obligation to aid Bucky. Ana glanced over her shoulder as she heard the sound of police sirens in the distance. Her eyes then flicked over to a large church standing between two buildings.

"Follow me," Ana said as she hurried towards the church. Bucky followed behind her and the pair slipped into the church unseen. It was a Tuesday afternoon and the large stone church was empty save for a few flickering candles on some of the alters. Ana shut the door behind Bucky and latched it shut then looked over her shoulder.

Bucky was standing in the middle of the church looking up at the brightly colored mosaics painted on the ceiling. Ana stopped for a moment and watched as Bucky slowly walked around looking at everything. Bucky never remembered being in a church before, everything felt new to him. The Orthodox cross that hung over the central alter seemed so strange. While living in Moscow Bucky saw plenty of churches but he never bothered to go into one.

Ana took a step towards him and for a moment the pair forgot they were running. For a moment they allowed themselves to just marvel in the dim lighting of the church. The candles threw off soft orange light to every painting and every engraving. Ana watched as Bucky looked up towards a mosaic of Christ and smiled softly.

"Some of the most beautiful buildings in the world are churches," Ana said in a small voice. She didn't want to disturb Bucky but she thought she should say something. They were still running and would have to leave soon.

Bucky nodded in agreement as Ana walked over so she was standing beside him. Her arms were folded over her chest and she too was now looking at the mosaic of Christ.

"Do you believe in God?" Bucky asked.

Ana shrugged her shoulders, "I don't really know. I was raised to believe in god; I went to church every Sunday, was baptized, and took communion. But I could never fully commit to the idea. My brother was really religions, and I think that's part of my problem," she sighed and shook her head, "How could God let someone so devout die?"

Bucky nodded in agreement then asked, "What is God?"

"Now that's a loaded question," Ana teased as Bucky turned slightly towards her, "God is supposedly a force that controls everything. People say that God's a man, so he created the world and everything in it. According to Judeo-Christian lore, he builds our lives before we are even born."

"How can one person be so powerful?" Bucky asked.

"That's the question people have been asking for centuries," Ana said with a small smile, "How one person can create everything, it's interesting to think about it."

The two were suddenly pulled out of their conversation by the sound of footsteps. Without hesitation, Bucky took the gun out from the pocket of his jacket and whipped around. Ana turned and her eyes went wide.

Standing there, in a navy blue and white suite was Captains Steve Rogers. His shield was strapped to his back and he looked enraged as he spoke, "Dr. Baker please step away from this man."

Ana thought quickly and side stepped in front of Bucky. She knew that Steve would never hurt an innocent, it wasn't how he worked, she just hopped that Bucky thought enough of her not to kill her, "Captain Rogers this isn't what it looks like I-"

"Dr. Baker step away from your kidnapper," Steve ordered one more time.

From behind her, Ana heard Bucky load his gun before saying in a gruff voice, "Ana, get out of my way."

"Bucky I'm not letting you shoot him," Ana snapped over her shoulder.

A look of pain crossed Steve's face, "Wait, Bucky?"

Ana turned back to Steve and what Dumanovsky once told her came rushing back. Bucky was once a World War Two soldier who was frozen in the ice. It's highly plausible that Steve once knew him.

"Bucky Barnes?" Steve asked once more.

Ana glanced over her shoulder at Bucky who was standing there looking just as confused. She suddenly realized how hard this must be for him, Bucky didn't remember anything about his life before he became the Winter Soldier. It was obvious that Steve knew him, he gave a last name and everything.

"What did you call me?" Bucky asked in a bitter voice.

"Move aside Dr. Baker, I want to see if this is actually him," Steve said in a gruff voice.

Ana hesitated for a moment but took a side step aside. Bucky was still holding a gun to Steve's head but it looked less murderous now. Steve stood there for a moment just looking at Bucky before his face transformed into one of hurt.

"I watched you fall, you're supposed to be dead," Steve said in a shallow voice.

"Well," Bucky snapped, "I'm not. How do you know me?"

Ana watched the interaction between the two men whiling stealing glances at the door. If Steve was here S.H.I.E.L.D wasn't far behind. She wanted them to reconnect if they did once know each other, but she and Bucky couldn't risk being caught by S.H.I.E.L.D.

"We were once friends Bucky," Steve said as Bucky slowly began to lower his gun.

"I-I don't remember you at all," Bucky said in a shaking voice. He looked as if he was staring to panic and when he panicked it meant that he could lose control.

"Steve," Ana cut in, "Be very careful. He was brainwashed, he doesn't remember anything. If you two were once friends he won't remember."

Bucky turned his attention to Ana and suddenly snapped, "I can speak for myself woman!"

His powerful voice bounced off the walls of the church. Ana found herself flinching slightly from the might of his words and from the harsh bitter stare Bucky was giving her. Bucky then turned back to Steve who was equally on guard now.

"Bucky," Steve asked, "Why do you have Dr. Baker in your custody?"

"You can ask me that yourself Captain Rogers," Ana cut in, "I choose to go with him. We're trying to get Bucky's file back so he can find out who he is."

Steve looked at Bucky, "You really don't remember anything?"

Bucky shook his head as the sound of footsteps outside the church got closer, "Nothing."

Ana looked over her shoulder as the sound of Nick Fury's voice seeped in from the wood. She was shaking now; if Fury was here than they were surely going to be found. Quickly, Ana turned back to Steve and said, "Look, we don't have much time. If you want you can come with us, but you need to choose now."

Steve stood there looking between his friend and the woman he was supposed to be saving, "Now?"

Ana nodded her head, "Yes, now."


	12. Chapter Twelve: Dark Star

Chapter Twelve: Dark Star

"Well," Ana said as she glanced over her shoulder at the church, "You don't have much time to think about this. We need an answer now."

Steve glanced at Ana. She seemed to be masking her fear under confidence as she kept on looking towards the door. On their way to Russia, Steve learned that while Ana Baker was one of the brightest minds to ever work at S.H.I.E.L.D, it wasn't just her research that they were depending on her for, she was the daughter of a general. In his short experience with Army Brats, Steve thought she was different. Ana was giving up everything, career, country, and family to help a man that she barely knew. Whether or not she had her own motives, Steve decided she was worth trusting.

"I'm sorry," he began in a solemn voice, "I can't go with you. If I come along it will look like we're committing mutiny against S.H.I.E.L.D. But what I can do is cover for you two."

"Why would you do that?" Bucky asked in a suspicious voice.

Steve looked at the echo of his best friend. Bucky looked scared, he looked vulnerable which was something Steve never saw, "Because, you're my best friend Bucky."

Bucky didn't have friends. He had Ana, who was the closest thing he had to a friend or family. He looked at Steve and nodded slowly, "Maybe we were once friends, but I'm sorry I don't remember you. But thank you, this means more to me that you'll ever know."

Steve nodded as Ana turned to Bucky and said, "Let's go."

######

Six hours later, the pair were still on the highway.

Ana was sitting in the driver's seat, gripping the wheel so hard her knuckles were turning white. Her mind was filled with a thousand different things; Fury sent Captain American to get her back. S.H.I.E.L.D was looking for them, and Bucky was more confused now than ever. Out of the corner of her eye, Ana glanced at Bucky who for the past three hours hadn't said a word.

"Are you alright?" Ana asked as she glanced in the rear view mirror to make a lane change.

"I'm fine," Bucky muttered.

Ana rolled her eyes as she shifted into the center lane, "Bullshit. Bucky you can trust me, open up to me. I'm here, I want to help you"

Bucky shifted slightly, "You want to get revenge for Hydra killing your mentor," that was the reason why Ana started this journey with him. It wasn't because she wanted to help him, it was because she had her own selfish reason.

Maybe Ana wasn't the person Bucky believed her to be. He glanced over at Ana and saw how she kept on looking at him. There was worry in her eyes but Bucky shook his head, "You have your own selfish reasons for being here. Why didn't you just go with him? You would be on your way home by now."

"Because I promised you," Ana said, "I promised you that I would help you and I live up to my promises. We're going to Germany to find your file so you can remember who you are then you're coming back to New York with me."

Bucky snorted and shook his head, "I'm not exactly a society man. I've killed people, Ana. I'm not fit for civilian life."

"None of us are," Ana said as she tightened her grip on the wheel and dropped one hand so she was driving one handed. She turned slightly so she could still watch the road and talk to Bucky, "We have to mold ourselves into model citizens, it's hard at times but we can do it. After this is all done, come back to New York with me and I can see if you can get a job with S.H.I.E.L.D, I need a new lab assistant."

"I don't want to work for them," Bucky muttered, "I don't want to work for an organization that will just control me like I was before."

Ana glanced at him and arched an eyebrow, "S.H.I.E.L.D doesn't control us, well Fury controls the Avengers but I'm a part of the science division. We're an independent organization, we have our own funding, and our own set of rules. It's different, you could like it."

"I don't want to work for S.H.I.E.L.D!" Bucky suddenly shouted.

Ana sat there and didn't flinch. After working for Fury and growing up in her family, Ana learned now to be affected by yelling. Anyone else would have flinched but Ana just sat there, "Well, what about teaching Russian?"

Bucky shrugged, "I don't know, can we just cross the border and get my file back?"

"We have to have a plan Bucky," Ana said as she noticed their exit coming up, "Crossing the borders is easy, but getting back into the United States is going to be hard. If we give ourselves over to S.H.I.E.L.D once we have the files then they may help us get back."

"They'll help you," Bucky muttered as he glanced out the window, "They won't help me."

Suddenly Ana snapped. Ana never yelled, she wasn't the yelling type. She was always clam, but she had enough, "You need to stop thinking you're a lost cause! Jesus Christ Bucky, you're a good man, god dammit have some fucking faith in yourself. You can be useful to society, you just have to have some faith in yourself for once!"

Bucky sat there in awe. Out of the two of them, Ana was clam and collective. But seeing her snap like that made him want to believe her. Bucky looked out the window and thought about what he could do. He and Ana could move into New York together, get an apartment together, and live together. He could teach Russian while she worked, Ana could fix his arm when it needed repairs, and they would be happy.

Ana shook her head, "I'm sorry for snapping like that."

"Its fine," Bucky said as he reached over and squeezed her free hand, "Thank you. I'm sorry for saying you're selfish."

Ana shrugged, "I can be selfish, but so can everyone," she squeezed his hand and smiled, "Alright, we're close to the border."

Bucky smirked, "Are we going to dump the car and sneak in?"

A mischievous smirk crossed Ana's face, "Of course."


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Party Song

**AN: So here you guys go, another update! I was thinking about making a twitter account where you guys could tweet me with ideas, comments, concerns, ect. Tell me what you think about that. Oh and if you guys want, you should really listen to Jamyes Young's Dark Star, such a lovely song. Well, enjoy and leave a comment! Also, you get to meet Mama Baker in this chapter!**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: Party Song

-New York, New York-

Stephany Baker didn't know how to tell her mother the news.

Nearly three weeks ago, her youngest daughter went missing in Russia. A year and a half ago her only son was killed in Afghanistan. Before, when Stephany had to tell her mother of Will's death, Ana came with her.

Now, Stephany had to walk into the nursing home by herself. The nurses that were sitting at the desk gave the woman a bright smile. Stephany visited her mother on a near daily basis. Stephany said a polite good morning to the nurses before turning down the hallway where her mother's room was. At the end of the hall stood a blond woman that strongly resembled Stephany.

"Sharon, what are you doing here?" Stephany asked as she realized that the pretty blond woman in the suit was her cousin's only daughter. Sharon and Ana were about the same age; there was only thirteen months separating the two. When they were young the pair were close but as they grew they spoke less and less to each other.

Sharon Carter smiled warmly at her cousin, "Aunt Stephany, I was just coming to visit Aunt Peggy, I hope that's alright."

Suddenly, Stephany was feeling very grateful for Sharon's presence. Before saying anything, Stephany glanced into her mother's room just to make sure she couldn't hear. Peggy was sitting leafing through an old photo album. Stephany motioned for Sharon to follow her and the two women walked over to the double doors so they were out of earshot of the room.

"I'm guessing that by now you know of Ana's disappearance," Stephany said as calmly as she could. She knew Sharon was working for S.H.I.E.L.D, it seemed to be the ironic family business.

Sharon nodded slowly, "Yes, Fury thought he had a lead on her but I guess the lead went cold. He even sent in Captain Rogers to check up on it but they can't find her."

That was Stephany's greatest worry. Thomas told her the night before that Fury was sending her mother's old World War Two sweetheart and foolishly, Stephany had hope. Stephany always had hope; when Katherine first told her the news that Ana was missing Stephany thought she would turn up in a few days. Well, now those days turned into weeks and they were almost on a month without a sighting of her. Katherine was talking to some of her connections in Eastern Europe but no one knew anything. It was as if the day Dumanvosky died; Ana Baker seized to exist.

"Well, I haven't told mom yet about Ana disappearing," Stephany whispered as her eyes darted towards Peggy's door, "She's been asking for Ana. I have to tell her, it's been three weeks I can't lie to her anymore."

Sharon never saw her Aunt Stephany look so distraught. She had dark bags under her brown eyes and her blond hair seemed to be thinning. It was clear that she wasn't eating, she was about ten or fifteen pounds lighter. Sharon remembered what it was like when Will died; Stephany almost shut herself completely down from the grief. Sharon could tell that Stephany was fighting herself to keep going; three children, one dead, one missing, and one never around. It was sad to see your children slipping away without warning, and Sharon knew that Stephany couldn't take much more of it.

"Where's Uncle Tom, shouldn't he be with you?" Sharon asked.

Stephany rolled her eyes, "Tom's useless; he told me this morning that he was going to S.H.I.E.L.D HQ to help look for Ana. But I know he's just trying to decrypt her research."

Sharon smirked, that was the thing about her cousins. As the youngest of three, Ana had to learn from a young age how to hide things. When they were young, Sharon vividly remembered Ana developing code sequences that only she could break. Sharon saw some of Ana's old research and knew that she wrote everything in code.

"Does he realize that he can't break those codes?" Sharon asked.

Stephany shook her head as she sighed, "He thinks he can but anyway, I was wondering if you would be willing to be there when I tell mom."

Sharon nodded, "Of course I'll help. Should we go now?"

Stephany glanced over her shoulder and sighed, "It's now or never."

SSSSSS

"Okay so how are we getting across this one?" Bucky asked as he and Ana stood hidden in bushes staring at the Polish border. It was heavily guarded and backed up with cars for about two miles. A large barb wire fence stretched for about ten miles in each direction.

Ana shrugged, "I have no idea to be honest," she looked up at the sky, the sun was setting and soon it would be getting cold. She was beyond exhausted, "Maybe we should stay here for a night?"

Bucky shook his head, "No, we should cross if we can."

"Kill joy," Ana muttered as she glanced towards the border, "We could try crawling under the fence and making a run for it."

Bucky glanced at Ana to see if she was being serious. He knew that idea would never work, it couldn't work. It was way too simple to work. But before he could say anything Ana was pulling her hood over her head and hurrying down towards a dark part of the fence. Bucky shook his head and followed after Ana until they reached a part of the fence that hidden by bushes.

"Alright," Ana said as she took off back pack, "If you could rip a hole in the fence then we could go through and make a run for it."

"Why do I have to rip the fence open?" Bucky demanded.

"Because," Ana said with a smirk, "you have a metal hand. You won't be hurt by it but I would be."

Bucky rolled his eyes but with his metal hand he gripped the fence. Then, in one quick motion, Bucky ripped a hole in the fence. Ana smirked as she pushed her bag through first then slowly started to shimmy herself through. The wire snagged pieces of Ana's hair but she forced herself not to cry out in pain. The wires grabbed her jeans and Ana knew that it tore a hole in the denim.

But after a few more moments Ana was able to wiggle her way through. Once she was on the other side of the border Ana turned and motioned for Bucky to follow her, "Come on."

Bucky shook his head then crawled onto his stomach. He shimmied through the hole in the wall. The barbs grabbed at Bucky's clothes and ripped a few holes in them. Bucky shook his head and pulled his legs through the hole.

"See," Ana whispered with a smirk, "I told you it would be easy."

Bucky shrugged as the pair stood, "Come on let's go."

Ana pointed towards something in the distance, "Look, train tracks. We can follow those to the nearest town, buy a ticket and go to Warsaw."

"Why Warsaw?" Bucky asked as they began walking towards the train tracks.

Ana turned her back to Bucky and smirked, "I know someone there, old friend from college. He'll hide us for a few days so we can rest and restock. Here's the best part; he's not going to sell us out to Hydra."

"Are you sure?" Bucky asked.

Ana smirked, "I'm positive."

#####

Kacper Bacik wasn't one for visitors. He lived alone in an apartment on the east side of Warsaw. He was a brilliant chemist in his late twenties who could recite chemical compounds but couldn't ask a girl out. Kacper spent most of his time alone or avoiding other people for the sake of his research. His family saw him as a recluse which was partially correct.

But the day his college best friend turned up on his doorstep Kacper had forced himself to stay up for nearly thirty six hours working on a new compound. He was running on caffeine pills and the sure will to stay awake. This was a normal tendency for Kacper, he put himself last in the name of science.

While standing over a buncion burner, Kacper herd a rapid knock coming from the door. He looked up and pushed his glasses back so they were sitting on the bridge of his nose and called, "Who's there?!"

"It's Ana, remember, from Yale?" Kacper hadn't heard form Ana in nearly a year. The two used to exchange emails about their research and what they were currently working on. Kacper saw her as an intellectual equal; something he rarely saw people as.

"Dr. Ana Baker, from America?" Kacper called as he turned off the Buncion burner and walked around his lab table.

"The very same!" The voice called from behind the door, "Look, I know this is really unexpected but I need-"

Before Ana could finish what she was saying Kacper pulled open the door. He saw Ana standing there, dressed in all black, dirty, with chopped hair, and dirty covering her face. She looked exhausted both mentally and physical. A man was standing beside her looking just as exhausted.

"Dr. Baker," Kacper said as he fixed his glasses, "This is unexpected."

"I know and I appolgize but we need your help," Ana said in a hurried voice as she glanced over her shoulder.

"With what?" Kacper asked. He was a careful man, never enter into something unless you know what you're doing is what his father told him when he was young.

Ana's dark eyes met his blue ones and said in a hushed voice, "We need someone to hide us, just for a day or two. Please, Kacper you know I wouldn't come to you unless we absolutely needed your help.

Kacper nodded, "Alright, fine I'll help you, but you have to tell me everything that's going on."


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Oil and Water

Chapter Fourteen: Oil and Water

After what could be considered to be the longest shower of Ana's life, she walked into the living room towel drying her hair. Kacper's house was filled with clutter, the man never threw anything out. The end tables were stacked with papers of research notes that went back all the way to when Kacper was in grade school. Various bottles of Chemicals were covering the end tables and the counters.

Kacper's apartment looked like a lab. Ana stood in the middle of the living room, dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a tank top, towel drying her hair and wrinkling her nose. It smelt like alcohol and it was burning the inside of Ana's nose.

"Don't you ever clean in here?" Ana asked Kacper who was hunched over his research.

Kacper shook his dark haired head, "No, never clean. I may throw something important out if I do."

"Well you should invest in a filing cabinet," Ana suggested as she moved a stack of papers off of Kacper's faded red couch and sat down with a sigh.

Kacper sat up and turned towards Ana, "Dr. Baker, I have not heard from you in almost a year then you turn up on my doorstep with a strange man. What is going on?"

Ana shifted uncomfortably before she stopped toweling off her hair and sighed, "For the past year I've been studying in Russia under Dr. Dumanovsky. I was trying to figure out how to grow synthetic skin that would regenerate like normal skin, it was the last piece to my prosthetic limb prototype for S.H.I.E.L.D. Well, one day I went to Dumanovsky's and there were men there from a German organization, Hydra."

Kacper froze. As a child he heard stories of what Hydra did back in World War Two and how people were still pledging their allegiance to the Nazi organization. He watched as Ana ran a hand through her damp hair, "Hydra is after the man I'm with. He's a former Russian spy, they call him the Winter Soldier and-"

"You are traveling with him?!" Kacper hisses as his eyes darted to the bathroom. Bucky just got into the shower and Kacper hopped he couldn't hear their conversation.

Ana nodded, "But he's not the man he used to be. His name is James Buchanan Barnes, he was a soldier in World War Two. He doesn't remember anything and I'm helping him get to Germany to find the Hydra base where his file is being kept."

"Why would you do such a thing? He killed people, murdered them, he does not deserve anyone's help," Kaceper hissed. Growing up in a Soviet controlled province, children heard stories of the Winter Soldier. He killed people for the Communist party, he had no mercy when it came to his missions, and now he was in Kacper's apartment.

"He's not that man anymore," Ana whispered, "Bucky want's to find out who he was before he became the Winter Soldier. He wants to find his file, please Kacper," she locked eyes with Kacper's cold blue ones, "Please, you were my best friend in college, do not desert me now. We need your help, it's only for a few days."

Kacper shifted in his seat as he remembered their days at Yale. Ana was always there for him; whenever he needed someone to help with an experiment she was there. The pair were always together, they ate their meals together, spent vacations together, and studied together. When they graduated, the pair stood in the same row and when they had their diplomas in hand, they took their graduation pictures together.

Now, he was going to have to trust her once more. The look on Ana's face expressed how desperate she truly was for help. Sighing, Kacper nodded and ran his hand over his face, "Fine, you may stay. I'm going out to buy soup for dinner, don't touch anything."

Ana smiled and before Kacper could stand, she threw her arms around him and hugged him. Kacper hesitated for a moment then patted her back twice, "Alright, now let go."

Ana let go and smiled up at her friend, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Kacper nodded and grabbed his coat and keys before slipping out of the apartment. Ana stood and turned towards the bathroom. The water had just shut off and Ana could hear Bucky getting out. She walked into the small room they were going to be sharing and picked up one of the computers Kacper left lying around the house.

She opened it up and cursed under her breath. It was in Polish, so Ana used her basic knowledge of computer set ups to go into the settings and switch the langue to English. From there, she logged onto the internet and pulled up Google.

For a moment, Ana saw staring at the home page. Then, she dragged her finger across the touch pad and typed in 'James Barnes.'

27,000 hits in .3 seconds, Ana smirked and clicked the first link which connected her to a Wikipedia page. By now, Bucky had left the bathroom and was walking into their room. When Ana herd the door open she looked up and smiled, "Hey come here," she patted the spot next to her on the bed.

Bucky was thankful to be clean. He ran a hand through his damp and sat down beside Ana. He didn't have a clean tee shirt so he was resorting to just wearing a pair of sweat pants. His silver arm glistened in the street light that was coming through the window and from the single light bulb that hung from the ceiling.

"What are you doing?" Bucky asked as he saw a picture of himself on the side.

"I found your Wikipedia page," Ana said with a smile, "I remembered what Captain Roger's said back in the church and thought I'd look it up," she pointed to his name and smiled, "You name is James Buchannan Barns, you were a soldier in the United States Military during World War Two."

Bucky stared at the picture of himself. His hair was shorter, he was dressed in a military uniform with a cocky smirk on his face. Bucky almost didn't recognize himself on account of how happy he looked, "T-that's me?"

Ana nodded and smiled, "Yep, and you'd look like that again if you cut this," she ruffled his hair affectionately while trying now to stare at his bare chest. Ana always realized Bucky was attractive, just never this attractive.

Bucky ran a hand through his own hair while he skimmed the page, "Maybe we could cut it?"

"I could if you want," Ana said as Bucky sat reading his article. It talked about how he was a kid from Brooklyn, best friend to Steve Rogers, and one of Captain America's Howling Commandos. It also said that Bucky was the only one of the Commandos to be killed during the war.

"How is this possible?" Bucky asked.

Ana tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, "We learn about you in school during American history. I don't know why I never made the connection before, it could be because I'm awful at history. But for what it's worth," she pointed to the picture of the man on the screen, "This is the man you are."

"It's the man I was," Bucky muttered, "I don't remember that life."

"That's why we're going to find your file," Ana said, "So we can see how they wiped your memory and reverse the affects. You can come back to New York with me and I'll do it there. How does that sound?"

Bucky turned to Ana and saw how determined she looked. Bucky was trained to tell when people were lying, but in the case of Ana Baker he saw no lie in her dark brown eyes. Slowly, Bucky nodded, "Alright."

Ana smiled and looked at his hair, "Do you really want that hair cut?"

Bucky chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, "Is it that bad?"

Ana shrugged, "It's up to you."

"Sure, I made you cut your hair. Let's go into the bathroom though, we wouldn't want to get hair on the bed," Bucky said with a smirk.

The pair slid off the bed and Bucky went into the bathroom while Ana grabbed a pair of scissors from Kaceper's junk draw. Then, she ducted into the bathroom and had Bucky stand in front of her with his back towards the sink. Ana hoped up onto the skin and sat with her legs brushing against either side of Bucky's body.

"Alright," Ana said, "Here goes nothing."

She began cutting, trimming, and doing whatever she could to make it look similar to the picture. Ana began to swing her legs on either side of Bucky's body as she narrowed her eyebrows together, "You know, we used to learn about you in my American History class," she lifted a strand of his hair and began snipping the ends off, "You were always the first Howling Commando we learned about."

Bucky stifned. He couldn't see himself as a hero in anyone's eyes; he couldn't even see himself as a hero in his own eyes. To Bucky, he was a broken excuse of a man. He stared forward at the chipping blue paint on the walls and asked, "Was I a hero?"

Ana nodded as she ran her fingers through his hair. She had to cut it just so, but she knew she wouldn't be able to fully replicate the picture, "Yes, we all thought you were a hero."

"If only they could see me now," Bucky muttered to himself as he took a step away from Ana.

Ana hopped off the counter and placed the scissors on the edge of the skin. She took a step towards Bucky and placed a hand on his cheek, gently tilting his head towards her. Ana tilted her head to the side and frowned, "Bucky, you are a hero. If Mr. Richard's saw you he would say the same. I know you don't believe it because of the things you've done, but Bucky at one point you were a hero," Ana dropped her hand and smiled, "And I think you can get to that point again."

"Who's Mr. Richards?" Bucky asked as Ana turned him towards her and hopped back up onto the edge of the sink.

"My American History teacher," Ana said with a smile as she began trimming the sides.

As she did, Bucky stared at himself in the mirror. Slowly, the tangled wild mess of brown hair was leaving him and he was able to see that he had a strong jaw line and piercing blue eyes. Was he considered to be attractive? As Ana titled his head to the side, Bucky wondered if Ana thought he was attractive.

"Ana?" Bucky asked.

"Hm?" She said back as she finished side.

"Do you find me attractive?" Bucky asked.

Ana froze for a moment and glanced up at his eyes to see if he was joking. But Bucky's eyes were fixed on his reflection. She glanced at his features quickly; it was something she considered many times herself. Normally, Bucky wouldn't be considered to be her 'type'. Ana usually dated men with light hair and equally light eyes who were brilliant. But there was something attractive about Bucky, something admirable.

"Yes," Ana said as she nodded and slipped the last piece of hair, "I think you are."

Bucky looked down at her and for a moment the two just smiled. Ana then slid off of the sink and sighed, "I have to clean this up or else Kacper will be mad," she disappeared to the kitchen and came back moments later with a broom and dustpan.

"I can do this," Bucky said.

Ana shook her head, "No, I've got it. Why don't you go, rest?"

Bucky nodded and left Ana to clean up the hair. Ana swept the broken brown locks into a pile then pushed the pile into the dustpan. Then, Ana carried it into the kitchen and threw it out. Just as she replaced the two things, Kacper entered the apartment.

"Where's the Winter Soldier?" Kacper asked as he placed the bag of soup on the counter.

"In the room we're sharing," Ana said as she stood on her tip toes and looked into the bag. It smelt like a thick potato stew; something she desperately wanted right now. Ana took out the soup and Kacper hung up his coat.

"Are you sure he's trust worthy?" Kacper asked as the pair got bowls and spoons.

Ana nodded, "I would trust him with my life, I'm going to go get Bucky for dinner."

Kacper watched Ana walk away and shook his head. Deep down inside, Kacper had a bad feeling about this.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: When in Warsaw

Chapter Fifteen: When in Warsaw

That night, Bucky couldn't sleep.

He and Ana were sharing a small bed, and with Ana's rough sleeping patters, she ended up with one leg over his and her arm across his chest. Bucky didn't mind; he liked having Ana close by. If she was close Bucky knew he could protect her.

As the hours ticked by, Bucky thought about what it would be like if he did go back to New York with Ana. Maybe he could find Steve and see if they could reconnect. Maybe he could start a new life; become a Russian teacher, live with Ana, and see what the world outside Russia is like. It would be nice to have a life that Bucky could call his own, it would be something he never had before.

He glanced down at Ana whose head was resting on his chest. Gently, he stroked her hair and wrapped a lock around one of his fingers. Ana's hair was so soft, it was something Bucky didn't bother noticing. He dropped the lock of hair and glanced down at her face. Ana looked as if she was totally at peace. She looked content lying there, crammed onto this small bed half sleeping on Bucky. Bucky noticed how her lip twitched slightly in her sleep; it was something he noticed when he first found her.

Bucky glanced out the window and saw the bright lights of Warsaw. The city brought promise; they were one step closer to Germany and their goal. Bucky frowned for a moment as he glanced down at Ana and it dawned on him that even if he did go back to New York with her, she had her own life. Right now, he was keeping her from living that life. Unlike him, Ana had family back home who were probably worried about her.

S.H.I.E.L.D wouldn't allow him to just live with her, Bucky knew this. He knew that even though it was a pretty idea, it was an idea nothing more.

Beside him, Ana rolled over in her sleep and sighed. Bucky looked down as she tightened her grip on him. She was having a nightmare. Slowly and carefully, Bucky turned over so he was lying on his side facing Ana. A few years ago, Bucky assassinated a Russian politician who was laying with his wife like this. Bucky draped an arm over her waist and brought Ana's small form to him. In her sleep, Ana smiled and moved closer to Bucky.

Bucky looked down and frowned before whispering, "I'm sorry," and drifting off to sleep.

####

The next morning Kacper said he had to run to the University to get more Chemicals. Ana woke up before Bucky, in his arms nonetheless, and just lied there for a moment. They had the whole day to themselves, Kacepr wouldn't be back until later. Slowly, Ana crawled under Bucky's arm and shimmied her way out of the bed. Then she dug her only pair of clean clothes out from her bag. It was a white button down and a pair of dark jeans; something she would wear at home. Ana glanced over her shoulder for a moment just to make sure that Bucky was still sleeping, then she went into the bathroom to change.

While Ana was changing Bucky woke up to an empty bed. Panic set in as Bucky sat up and looked around, "Ana?!"

"In the bathroom!" He heard her voice call.

Bucky's heart stopped speeding and he ran a hand over his face. Then, Bucky went into his own bag and pulled out a pair of jeans and a long sleeved black shirt. It was the one that Ana wore that night in the Ukraine. A small smile appeared on Bucky's face as he quickly changed out of his sweats and put on the new set of clothes.

Moments later Ana emerged from the bathroom and smiled at Bucky who was sitting on the edge of the bed, "So, I was thinking that we could go look around Warsaw for the day."

Bucky shrugged, "I like the idea."

Ana saw his hesitation and she arched an eyebrow, "But?"

"Is it safe?" Bucky asked.

Ana shrugged her shoulders, "Probably, but it'll be fun Bucky," she pulled on her boots and grabbed her black leather jacket, "Don't you want to see one city?"

Again, Bucky shrugged his shoulders, "I want to get to Germany as quickly as possible."

Ana placed her hands on her hips and sighed, "Please Bucky, I just want to show you a world that you've been missing. We've been on the run for almost a month and haven't taken time to look at anything. Let's just go explore Warsaw a bit, before we have to leave?"

Bucky glanced at Ana and saw that she was pouting. She had made her eyes larger and looked as if she was trying to resemble a puppy. Bucky rolled his eyes then stood and pulled on his own jacket, "Fine, let's go."

###

A few hours later Bucky and Ana were sitting on a park bench in the middle of Warsaw stuffing their faces with local Polish sausages. It was Bucky's fifth sausage of the hour and Ana's third. Once the pair smelt the tantalizing scent from the street vender's cars, they realized how hungry they actually were. The soup from last night did nothing to satisfy their appetites but this worked.

"These are fantastic," Bucky said as he took another bite of the sausage.

Ana nodded in agreement as she took a bite of hers, "Back home, I eat about 100 hot dogs a month. It's a bad habit but I just love meat."

Bucky laughed. Ana was small and to see the small scientist scarf down food was just, funny to him. Ana glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes then laughed along with him.

"It's a beautiful day," Ana said as she glanced around at the light amount of snow that was covering the city, "Even with the snow."

"Yeah," Bucky said as he looked around the park, "It is."

"We don't have this in New York," Ana said as she looked around, "There's only a hand full of places where you can to and it's truly quiet. The noises; in New York they're everywhere. It's one of the things I liked the most about Moscow, it was quiet," Ana shrugged as she took a sip of her soda, "I mean sure there's nose, but you could hear yourself think. Back home, the only thing I can think of is work; how to get this machine to work, how I'm going to fit everything into my schedule, how to avoid my family, and well, just how I'm going to avoid everyone."

"Can I ask you a question?" Bucky asked.

Ana nodded and he sighed, "Why do you remove yourself from everyone?"

Ana stared off into the distance across the park. A new family was sitting on a bench laughing amongst themselves. They looked happy, it was something Ana craved, "I don't understand people. Its part of the reason why I went into biomedical engineering, I can separate myself from everyone. If I don't want to, I can go a week or so without saying a word to anyone. I wasn't raised to be a people person," Ana paused for few moments to think of how to word what she was about to say, "My father raised us to be pawns. My brother, the solider. My sister the journalist, both could sway the world towards whomever my father wished. Growing up, we weren't shown what it was like to be a family. Dad was always gone on some military conference and mom was with S.H.I.E.L.D. My mom used to threaten to divorce my father, it happened at least once a month, but she never did it."

"Why do you think that is?" Bucky asked as he looked at Ana.

Ana shrugged her shoulders, "I won't pretend to understand love, but I think when you truly love someone you're willing to push past it all. I think my mother's still waiting to catch a glimpse of the man she married. It's sad you know? They never had a happy marriage."

"Let me guess," Bucky said as he draped his arm over the back of the bench, "You're worried that you'll make the same mistake and fall in love with a man like your father?"

Ana nodded as she finished her sausage, "It terrifies me you know? I mean I don't even get along with the man, how could I survive married to one like him?!"

"You're stronger than you think, Ana," Bucky said as she turned towards him. Bucky had a small smudge of ketch on his face. Ana smiled as she reached forward with her napkin and whipped it away. Bucky smiled as he took her hand and ran his thumb over her knuckles, "You're one of the strongest women I've ever known, know that Ana."

Ana smiled as a lump started to form in her throat, "You're making me emotional."

"Emotions are good," Bucky said as he slowly started to lean towards her. Something came over him, something that compelled him just to kiss her. He just needed to do it once, then he would satisfied for the rest of his life.

Ana saw Bucky moving towards her and she panicked. Without thinking, Ana grabbed Bucky's garbage, stood, turned her back on the man, and walked over to the trash can where she threw everything away.

Bucky sat there with a hurt expression on his face. He knew it was a bad idea, they were just business partners, but there was something inside him that just wanted Ana. He was starting to have feelings for her that he couldn't explain, and they were terrifying him. Bucky didn't know how to handle these things, he didn't know how to handle the feeling of wanting to make sure that Ana was safe and happy. Bucky looked down at his mechanical arm and tightened his hand into a fist. If he was the man she marveled at in her history class, then maybe she could learn to feel the way about him that he feels about her. But he wasn't that man anymore, he was a different darker man.

Ana stood there looking at Bucky with her hands in the back pocket of her jeans. With one hand, she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and frowned, "Bucky I-"

"Save it," Bucky said as he stood, "We're partners, nothing more," he walked towards Ana and looked down at her. His icy blue eyes bore into her dark brown ones as he said in a smooth voice, "nothing more."

Ana averted her eyes from Bucky's and noticed a man standing across the park watching them. He was sitting on a park bench by himself just staring. The man was blond, with a crooked smirk that Ana saw before.

He was the German in Dumanvosky's apartment. Before Ana could tell Bucky what was going on, she took off running towards the man. The German man saw Ana running towards him and stood. He ran towards the city with Ana at his heels.

"Get back here you fucking bastard!" Ana screamed in German towards the man.

Bucky ran after Ana, his feet beating against the stone of the streets of Warsaw, "Ana, stop it's not safe!" He yelled after her.

But Ana didn't listen. She ran faster towards the man as he ducted down an alley way that was filled with dumpsters and homeless. Normally, Ana would have realized the danger of running down this alleyway but instead she ran after him. Revenge was pooling in Ana's mind. She wasn't thinking about the dangers of chancing this man, Ana was only thinking about revenge.

Finally, they came to the end of the alley way. It was a dead end and the German man was standing with his back towards Ana. Ana skidded to a stop along with Bucky who was standing beside her.

The German man's shoulders started to shake as he laughed, "Oh Dr. Baker, you are such a fool," he turned and casted the pair and evil smirk, "You never run down a dark alley without knowing your way out."

Ana and Bucky looked over their shoulders long enough to see a few of the Homeless men stand and wield electric rods. Bucky instantly grabbed Ana and pushed her behind him as the German man laughed, "You have no way of escaping. Hydra always wins in the end."

With that, the German man pulled out his own electric rod and pressed it to the back of Ana's neck. Ana let out a blood curdling scream as she dropped to the ground unconscious. Bucky looked over his shoulder long enough for one of the homeless men to press their rod to his neck. Bucky hissed in pain as he dropped to the ground beside Ana.

####

"Ana, I'm back," Kacper called into his apartment. As he opened the door he saw his lab ransacked and a red octopus spray painted onto the wall.

Kacper dropped the bag of food he was carrying, "Shit, now I have to call S.H.I.E.L.D."


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Desolation

Chapter Sixteen: Desolation

Slowly, Ana started to come around. She narrowed her eyes and blinked a few times as she tried to adjust to the darkness in the room. Ana knew two things; she was tied down to an examination table and this was a Hydra base. Ana looked around at the monitors that were attached to the walls. One was reading her vittles and the other was monitoring something that she didn't understand. The panic started to set in when she saw the silhouette of a man in a white lab coat moving outside the door. From where Ana was tied down, she could hear two men speaking in German. Ana tugged on the bindings but nothing would work.

The door opened and the two German men entered. One was a short man, with a thick head of blond hair and hawk like eyes. He was the one dressed in the lab coat and he was holding a syringe in his hand. The other man was the German man from the alley way.

"Ah, the patient is awake. Good, very good. How are you feeling Dr. Baker?" The scientist asked.

Ana narrowed her eyes, "Fuck off," Ana spat as she tried to wiggle her way out.

The scientist smirked, "Oh Dr. Baker, we have given you a sedative that has suspended your strength for a period of time, not that you had much," he walked around Ana and gripped her arm, "Now, I'm going to give you another injection unless you answer our questions."

The German man stood by the door smirking as he watched the scene unfold. Ana's eyes flicked over to the man and she snarled, "Where's Bucky?"

"Don't worry about him Dr. Baker," the scientist said as he pressed the cold needle to the flesh of Ana's arm, "Now, how do we decrypt your research?"

Ana locked eyes with the man and said in a smooth voice, "Go fuck yourself, you Nazi bastard."

The scientist sighed and shook his head, "Oh Dr. Baker, this would be so much easier if you cooperated with us. We just have a few questions for you, just a few little questions. If you answer them, we will give you a quick death."

Ana picked up her head as much as she could and looked at the scientist. Ana Baker never thought of herself as a brave woman. She hid from everything in her life but at that moment Ana found herself wanting to be brave. For the first time in her life, Ana Baker wanted to be the hero. If she did die in this room she wasn't going to give up S.H.I.E.L.D secrets and she would distract them to give Bucky time to get out. She couldn't save Dumanovsky but she could buy Bucky time.

"Then you better start killing me now, because I'm not telling you anything," Ana said as she locked eyes with the scientist.

"Allow me," the German man leaning against the wall said before the scientist could inject Ana with whatever was in that syringe.

The scientist nodded and took a step back allowing his superior to take change of the prisoner. The German man smirked as he looked down at Ana, "Ah, the prodigal Baker child. I knew your father when you were a baby did you know that?" He said as he picked up a scrapple.

Ana eyed the scrapple carefully and shook her head, "My father has a lot of friends. It's hard to keep track of them all."

The German man chuckled and shook his head, "Leave us!" He barked to the scientist. The scientist nodded and hurried out of the room allowing the German man to turn his attention back to Ana, "Oh your father and I were not friends. No, we argued quite a bit on matters regarding security. But that doesn't matter anymore," the German man said, "Let's start with the beginning, what is your name?"

"You know my name, but I don't know yours," Ana answered as the German man lowered the scrapple to the pale flesh of her arm.

The German man smirked, "My name is Fredrick Hans Schroder. Now, your name my dear."

"Ana Helen Baker," Ana said as she eyed the scrapple.

"How many brothers and sisters do you have Ana?" Schroder asked as he traced a line down her arm.

Ana could feel the blade cutting into her arms. She narrowed her eyes as she slowly said, "I don't see how this matters."

Then, in a split second, Schroder took the scrapple, raised it a bit, and then stabbed Ana in her leg. Ana's eyes went wide and she could feel all the blood rushing from her head. Only half of the scrapple was visible from the wound. If it was two inches to the left and her artery would have been split in two. Pain was coursing through Ana's leg as she bit down on her cheek to keep from crying out. She clenched her hands into fists as Ana tried not to sob. The pain was excruciating, unlike anything Ana felt before in her life.

Schroder saw the amount of pain Ana was in and smirked as he walked around to the other side of the table, "You know that was a silly question, I've already read everything there is to know about you Dr. Baker."

"T-then what do you want?" Ana tried to speak but her voice shook. Her vision was starting to blur but she knew that she had to stay awake.

"You see Dr. Baker," Schroder said as he picked up an octopus shaped brander and a lighter, "We want to know how to decrypt your research, it will change the very face of Hydra and the world. All you need to do is tell me how to read your notes and I will let you go."

"What about Bucky?!" Ana snapped.

Schroder rolled his blue eyes, "He's being handled as we speak. Now, darling, tell me how to read your notes."

As Schroder spoke, he started to heat up the brander. Ana's eyes flicked towards the octopus shaped object and knew what was about to happen. But she couldn't give Hydra her research; she wouldn't even give it to S.H.I.E.L.D fully. It was her life's work, and Ana would be damned if she gave that up now.

"You'll have to kill me," Ana said as she narrowed her eyes, "Because I will never tell you how to read my notes."

Schroder frowned as if he was actually upset about this. He shook his head and let out a long sigh as he walked around the table once more, "This wound I have given you, it will kill you. But I have a plan," his face twisted into a smile as he set down the brander and picked up a pair of scissors. Before Ana could ask what he was doing, Schroder cut a hole in Ana's jeans around where the scrapple was sticking out, "I was once a medical doctor you see Dr. Baker," he raised the poker, "So I know to keep you from bleeding out I have to cauterize the wound," slowly he began lowering the brander down to Ana's exposed skin.

Ana's eyes widened as she shook her head, "No, no please no don't."

"But Ana," Schroder said as he locked eyes with her. Schroder could see the fear in her eyes; Ana's eyes were wide like a child's and she was shaking with fear. For Schroder, it was intoxicating. Then, in one quick motion, Schroder removed the scrapple and pressed the brand down onto Ana's skin.

Ana threw her head back and cried out. She could smell her own flesh burning; it was a sickly smell that made Ana want to gag. The sound of blood sizzling filled the room along with Ana's screams. She withered, twisted, and cried out in pain. For a moment she forgot about the wound in her leg as Schroder pushed the brand harder into Ana's skin. She kicked her legs and cried out a she desperately tried to get out of her bindings.

"Tell me your secrets Dr. Baker," Schroder asked once more as he watched the young woman wither in pain.

Ana looked up at the man standing above her. He was the devil on Earth; his blue eyes promised nothing but a soulless husk of a man who lusted for the pain of others. His twisted smirk showed that he no longer had an ounce of humanity left; Fredrick Hans Schroder was the perfect Hydra soldier. He no longer had compassion for humanity, he only saw them as experiments.

Ana blinked back tears as she narrowed her eyes at him and whispered with a shaking voice, "I'd rather die."

Schroder smiled, "That can be arranged Dr. Baker."

####

Bucky blinked a few times as he rolled his head to the side. He was lying on an examination table with his limbs tied down. His mind was fuzzy; Bucky couldn't remember anything. The last thing he remembered was a pair of brown eyes. The eyes seemed to be familiar but Bucky couldn't place the face. Bucky blinked a few times as he heard a scream coming from the room next to him.

"Wh-where am I?" Bucky asked the darkness.

"Don't worry Sergeant Barnes," a voice said as a man walked out from the darkness, "You're someplace safe now. Here," the man came into the slight light with a bite guard in his hand. The man was bald and had a monocle over his eye, "Bite down on this, it'll all be over quickly."


	17. Chapter Seventeen: I Hope

**AN: Wow, two updates in one day! Look at me go. Anyway, this chapter will probably break your heart- you have been warned. Also, this is going to be the transition into the Winter Solder. I hope you guys like it and leave a review!**

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: I Hope That You Remember Me

Ana couldn't feel her own body. She had been beaten, burned, cut, and injected with some unknown substance. Everything hurt; with every blow Schroder gave to her body Ana thought it would be the last. Now, she was being dragged down the hallway by two Hydra agents. Each agent had her by the arm and were dragging her down the hallway. Ana's shirt was covered in blood, her body hurt, and there were lacerations on her forehead. Ana's head rocked back and forth.

"Soon you will talk, American bitch," one of the Hydra agent's barked, "We're talking you to visit your friend. He'll make you talk."

"D-don't count o-on it," Ana muttered as she pried her eyes open long enough for her to see the door in front of them.

"Take the bitch," one of the agents said as he dropped Ana's arm. The other agent held Ana's limp form while one opened the door. Then, with one swift motion, the agent holding Ana pushed her through the door, "Have fun with him."

The Hydra agent threw Ana into the small dark room. Ana stumbled as she fell to the ground in a broken, bloodied, limp form. The door behind her slammed shut cutting off most of the light in the room. The only light left was a small light bulb that was hanging from the ceiling. Ana looked at her fingers, they were broken and bent into different directions. With a shaking hand, Ana shaped the bones back into place. She cried out in pain as Ana bit down on her cheek to keep the tears at bay. But it was no use, Ana pushed herself to her feet and stood there for a moment looking around. Her legs were shaking and Ana looked around the room. There was a machine sitting in the middle of the room. It was a chair, reclined slightly, with panels around the head rest. There were restraints on the arm rests and there were monitors around the walls.

"What the hell is this?" Ana muttered to herself as she looked around the room. The monitors were displaying brain scans and vittles signs. Ana stepped closer to one of the monitors as the door slid open.

Ana looked over her shoulder and saw Bucky standing there. There was a darkness in his eyes, one that she never saw before. But for a moment, Ana forgot about how strange Bucky looked, the pain coursing through her body, and ran towards Bucky. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.

"Oh my god you're safe," Ana said as she held onto Bucky for dear life, "We have to get out of here. They're trying to get my research and they will kill us," she pulled back for a moment and saw that there was a darkness in Bucky's eyes that Ana never saw before. It was as if he was a void; he no longer looked like the man she knew.

Ana's eyes snapped over to the machine then it clicked; they whipped his memories. Horrified, Ana stepped back and shook her head, "Bucky what did they do to you?"

"Who's Bucky?" He asked as he narrowed his eyes at Ana.

Ana shook her head as she reached up and caressed Bucky's face, "Bucky, it's me. It's Ana. Please, please remember."

Bucky didn't move. He didn't know the woman standing before him. Her dark brown eyes which were bruised looked familiar but he couldn't place her face. Suddenly, his head started to hurt and he remembered his mission.

"Bucky," Ana said as she took a step closer to him. Their chests were almost touching and slowly, Ana rose up to her tip toes. She knew what Bucky was trying to do earlier. Bucky had feelings for her, that much was sure. Ana wasn't ignorant of these things; she saw it in the way he looked at her. She would wake up in the middle of the night in his arms and for Ana, it felt right.

Ana backed away the first time because she was afraid. She didn't get close to people, they usually ended up hurting her or they disappeared. But Ana couldn't deny that for the past few weeks she was developing feelings for Bucky. There was something about the super soldier that she liked; his smile, the way his eyes lit up when he saw her, how protective he was, and how supportive he was. When she suggested that they go back to New York together, Ana meant it. She wanted Bucky to come home with her; she wanted him to have a life.

And Ana knew that she wanted to be a part of that life. She wanted to know that at the end of the day she would come home to see Bucky there. She didn't love him, no it was too early for anything like that, but she did have feelings for him that Ana knew she never had before.

"Bucky," Ana said as she slowly moved towards his lips, "Please remember who I am."

Imagines of the past month started to flash through Bucky's mind. He shook his head and muttered a soft 'I can't' before he felt something soft touching his lips. Bucky's eyes snapped open and he realized what was going on.

Ana was kissing him.

Unlike the first time this happened, it wasn't rushed. It was a slow, soft kiss that made Bucky tip his head down so it was easier to reach Ana's lips. Ana's lips were soft, plump, and felt right against his. With one shaking hand, Bucky brought his metal hand to the small of her back and pressed Ana's small form closer to his chest. With the other hand he titled her neck up slightly so he could deepen the kiss because-

Bucky knew this was the last one.

This would be their first and last kiss. Bucky knew that, he knew S.H.I.E.L.D was coming and he would have to finish his mission before they reached the secret Hydra base. He knew that this would be the last time he saw this woman, Ana, Dr. Ana Baker-

His Ana.

A tear slid down Bucky's face as Ana placed a hand on the back of his neck. Bucky let the tear slide down his face until it hit Ana's then he slowly pulled away. Ana's dark brown eyes were half closed and her lips were swollen. Even amongst the blood and dirt that covered her face to Bucky, Ana Baker was the most beautiful woman he ever saw.

"You remember me?" Ana asked with batted breath.

Bucky shook his head as another tear slipped down his face. Though he knew the woman before him he couldn't remember what they went through. The only thing he was able to remember was that he cared for her, and that her name was Ana Baker. His Ana, his mission. He saw that tears were starting to wield in Ana's own eyes. He reached forward and placed a hand on her cheek and used his thumb to whip away a tear, "S.H.I.E.L.D is on their way."

Ana held Bucky's hand against her face, "We're going to be alright."

Once more Bucky shook his head, "No we aren't," he said as his hand trailed down her neck to rest on her shoulder, "I'm sorry Ana."

Before Ana could even react Bucky threw her against the wall. Ana's already weak body hit the wall causing her to groan as she slid down the concrete to the floor below. Ana's head was spinning from the massive concussion she had but Ana found the strength to push herself up slightly to look at Bucky. Bucky was standing there before her holding a pistol in his hand.

"Bucky please," Ana begged "Let me help you."

Bucky squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't look at Ana's face while he did this, he couldn't see the pain she was about to be in. Schroder ordered him to put Ana into an extreme amount of pain, but not to kill her. So what Bucky did was, point the pistol at Ana's femur, and he pulled the trigger.

Bucky first heard the gun shot erupt in the small room, then he heard Ana's screams. Bucky opened his eyes and saw Ana withering in pain on the floor. She was groaning and crying as her blood pooled around her. Bucky shook his head, he needed to make her screaming stop. With the blunt of the pistol, Bucky hit Ana on the side of the head. The force of the hit knocked her out.

Without looking back, Bucky forced himself to leave the room with Ana lying on the floor bleeding out.

#####

Nick Fury saw Hydra bases before, but never one like this. The Hydra base was built in the middle of the German woods near the border with Poland. It looked like an old Nazi bunker, and it probably was at some point. The whole place was empty, and that scared Fury.

Fury walked down a dim corridor that was filled with the stench of blood. Forty eight hours ago they received a tip from one of Ana's friends in Poland that she was there. They were then able track Ana to this very place. Fury looked over his shoulder as a few agents broke down the doors. Fury turned back to the door that was in front of him and gripped the handle. With one swift push, Fury was able to open the door.

"We need a medic!" Fury screamed once he saw the scene in the room.

Ana was lying in a pool of her own blood. She was hurt, badly, and it looked like she was barely breathing. Fury stood there as the medical team ran past him to get to Ana.

"We need to get her to a hospital," One yelled as they tried to get a pulse on Ana.

"Load her onto the chopper. We can go to one of the American bases and treat her there," Fury ordered.

The head medic looked at Fury, "Sir, she may not make it."

Fury shook his head, "She's a tough one. She'll make it."

The medics didn't argue with Fury. Carefully, they were able to move Ana's body onto a stretcher and began rushing her to the chopper sitting outside.


	18. Chapter Eighteen: Blood in the Breeze

Chapter Eighteen: Blood in the Breeze

General Thomas Baker didn't believe it when he got the call.

It was a Thursday evening and he was about to sit down to family dinner. Every Thursday, Katherine would come over for family dinner. Tonight Stephany made meatloaf and mash potatoes, it was Thomas's favorite meal. Stephany and Katherine were in the kitchen pouring themselves a glass of wine while they talked about Peggy's ailing condition.

Thomas heard the phone ring while he was in the living room watching the game. He glanced at the phone and saw that it was coming from Germany. Thinking that it was just another business call, Thomas groaned and stood. He took the phone in one of his massive hands and pressed the talk button.

"You better have a damn good reason to be interrupting my dinner," Thomas barked into the phone.

"I just thought you'd like to know that we found your daughter, General Baker," Fury's every cocky voice said from the other end of the line, "And if I were you, I would get on the next plain to Berlin, she's been hurt badly."

Before he could even have a chance to say goodbye, Thomas hung up the phone. His face palled as he walked into the kitchen. After a month of searching, they found Ana in Germany.

Stephany saw the look on her husband's face and took a sip of her wine before asking, "Who was that?"

Katherine seemed to just as curious as he father blinked a few times. There were few things in this world that could render Thomas Baker speechless, but that phone call seemed to be one of those things.

"They found Ana," Thomas breathed, "She's in Berlin and she's been hurt. Fury wants us to go now."

Before Stephany could say anything Katherine grabbed their wine glasses and placed them in the sink before saying, "I'll get my keys and call Stark."

####

"Her vitals are normal I don't know why she's not waking up."

Ana heard the voice coming from a distance. It was a man's and he had a heavy French accent. Ana rolled her head slightly and felt something sticking in her arm. Slowly, Ana opened her eyes and looked around.

She was lying in hospital bed. Light was seeping in from the windows on the wall across from her bed. Slowly, Ana's senses started to come back online. The first thing Ana felt was the breathing tube that was stuck down her throat. Ana raised a hand and saw the IV that was sticking out from her hand. Her eyes widened when she fully realized that she was no longer lying on the floor of a Hydra base.

Panic set in. Ana looked around and saw that there was a tray with food beside her bed. With a shaking hand, Ana reached out for the knife. She was terrified, the last thing she remembered was Bucky shooting her leg. As Ana moved, the blanket covering her legs shifted slightly and she caught sight of the dark stiches that were stretching down her thigh.

Ana let out a muffled scream which alerted the doctor and nurse standing in the doorway of her room that she was awake. The French man, the doctor, turned towards Ana and rushed towards her as the Nurse ran towards one of the machines.

"Dr. Baker I need you to calm down," the doctor said as Ana reached for the breathing tube that was in her mouth. She wanted it out, she wanted to know what was going on, "I'm going to remove the breathing tube but you have to calm down so I can do this."

Ana nodded and slowly laid back. The doctor and the nurse went about removing the breathing tube which took about two minutes. Then, when Ana felt that her mouth was finally free, she took her first breath.

"See," the doctor said as the nurse left the room, "All better now."

Ana looked around then asked in a hoarse voice, "Where am I?"

"You're in a S.H.I.E.L.D hospital in Berlin," the doctor explained as he pulled over a stool for himself to sit on. He was a kind looking man, about six or seven years older than Ana, with dark hair and bright green eyes, "My name is Doctor Michel Blanchett and by the look on your face I am guessing you have some questions."

"You could say that again," Ana muttered as she pulled back the blanket and pointed to the stiches on her leg, "Can you explain this?"

Dr. Blanchett nodded as he sat up a bit more and pointed to the stitching, "Your femur was completely shattered and the bullet was still stuck inside. You also lost almost two pints of blood. There was no saving your bone though, so we removed most of the bone and placed a steel part inside. The steel is connecting the two pieces of-"

"I understand what it's doing," Ana barked as she looked down at her leg, "Thank you for explaining this to me but I would like to be alone."

Dr. Blanchett nodded and placed the blanket over Ana's arms before in a soft voice, "I am sorry that you are hurt Ana. If there is anything you need, you may page me."

Ana nodded as Dr. Blanchett walked out of the room. She looked down at her feet before raising a hand to her face and rubbed it. There were stiches on her forehead, one of the cuts Schroder gave her was so deep that it needed stiches, and it would scar. Hesitatnly and terrified, Ana pulled aside the blanket one more time to look at her other leg. Much to her dismay, the octopus that was Hydra's insignia was still branded on her pale skin.

"I know you don't want to hear this," an accented voice said from the doorway, "but that will always be there."

Ana looked up and saw Kacper standing there. He looked exhausted, there were dark bags under his eyes and he was wearing the same clothes from two days ago. But her friend walked into the room and sat down on the stool that Dr. Blanchett just vacated.

"You told S.H.I.E.L.D?" Ana asked in a low voice.

Kacper nodded, "I was afraid. I had to tell someone."

"Did you tell them about Bucky?" Ana asked in a hushed tone.

Kacper shook his head, "No. I told them that you showed up on my doorstep alone and scared. Then I said I went into work for a few hours and when I got back you were gone."

Ana smiled and placed her hand on Kacper's, "Thank you."

"Did he do this to you?" Kacper asked as he gestured to Ana's leg.

Ana nodded, "Hydra brainwashed him and Bucky shot me. But we aren't' telling anyone about Bucky's involvement. Please, Kacper, I want to keep him out of this."

Kacper narrowed his dark brows and titled his head to the side slightly, "Why are you protecting him Ana?"

Ana stared at the octopus branded on her skin as she slowly spoke, "Because, I have feelings for him. I- I'm not sure what it's called but I have feelings for him. And I have to protect him."

####

A few hours later, Ana was lying in her bed flipping through German television stations. Kacper stayed for two hours just talking with Ana. It was nice to talk to him after being gone for so long. When the nurse finally came to kick Kacper out Ana was missing Bucky. For the past month he was always with her. They were a pair, they saved each other's lives countless times and were there for each other. Many times Ana woke up in Bucky's arms. She missed his smile, his jokes, and his company.

Ana glanced out the window. The sun was setting over the buildings that lined Berlin. Ana saw her reflection in the window and cursed. Her right eye was bruised badly, lip split, there were stiches on her forehead, and there was a cut on her cheek that was being held together by two butterfly strips.

"General Baker you can't go in there!" Ana heard a voice yell.

Her head snapped towards the door as it was thrown open. Her father, mother, sister, and Fury stood in the doorway. Before Ana could say anything Stephany Baker rushed towards her youngest daughter and threw her arms around her shoulders. Almost instantly, Stephany Baker was sobbing into Ana's hair as she rocked Ana back and forth.

Ana carefully raised her arms and wrapped then around her mother's shoulders, "It's alright mom."

Slowly, Stephany pulled away and took her daughter's face into both of her hands. Stephany saw all the brusies, cuts, and stiches covering her daughter's body and slowly shook her head, "Oh my baby."

Katherine looked over her mother's shoulder and paled. Ana looked exhausted, she was bruised and broken but she was forcing a smile, "Hey, Kat. You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I-oh my god you look like shit," Katherine said with a smile before squeezing her sisters ankle, "but it's good to have you back."

Ana smiled, "It's good to be back," she leaned to the side slightly and smiled, "Hi Dad."

"Girls, Ana and I need to talk," Thomas said.

Stephany glared at her husband before saying, "If you do what I think you're about to do, then I want a divorce."

Thomas didn't even look at his wife as he spoke in a calm voice, "Sweetheart, you've been threatening a divorce for years now. We both know it's not going to happen. Now, Katherine go take your mother to the cafeteria and get some coffee."

Katherine casted her sister a sympathetic look as she placed a hand on her mother's shoulder. Stephany was staring daggers at her husband while Ana sat there staring at her father. When the two Baker women left and the door was shut Thomas turned to Fury, "Nick I want to speak to my daughter alon-"

"With all due respect," Fury said as he walked over to Ana's bedside and stood beside her, "But I'm not leaving."

Thomas nodded as he began pacing in front of Ana's bed with his hands clasped behind his back, "You've been missing for thirty two days. In thirty two days we were unable to crack the code you use on your research. Ana, you can't do that. That is vital military information that we need to get a hold of! On top of that, were you able to get Dumanvosky's research?"

Ana raised her eyebrows in disbelief. Her father was always like this; country first, family last. But it still marveled her. Ana couldn't believe that her father wasn't even taking into consideration that she almost died.

"Now," Thomas said as he stopped in front of Ana's bed and gripped the footboard, "You will tell me how to read your goddamn research or else."

"Or else what?!" Ana snapped as she tried to sit up. Fury saw her struggling and with a gentle hand he pushed her up a bit, "Or what dad?! Will you send me to my death like you did Will? I owe you nothing, my research is coded so you can't read it because of this reason. You didn't care if I came back alive or not, you just wanted to read my work!"

Thomas's face fell as his daughter's voice rose. She was right, he wanted to make sure that the military could use what she was working on. Ana wasn't a vital part of the equation, sure he loved her. Ana was his youngest daughter, his baby girl, but she was expendable.

"You don't care about us!" Ana yelled, "You just care that the country is defended. I work for the country's goddamn security agency and I still put my family first," she pointed a finger at her father, "I remember the days when you were a father, not just a general. I remember when you cared but you just don't anymore. You know what? I hope mom does divorce you! Maybe then you'll realize what a horrible person you are!"

"How dare you speak to me like that!" Thomas yelled back. He couldn't believe what Ana was saying, she wasn't the one to lash out yet here she was. But the thing he also couldn't believe was that she was right about everything, "You would be nowhere if it wasn't for me.

Ana snarled then started cursing in Russian before squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. She let out a long breath to calm herself before turning to Fury who remained silent during this whole ordeal, "I achieved my position based upon how hard I worked. Director Fury, will you accept a verbal agreement as a legally binding contract?"

Fury nodded slowly as he locked eyes with Thomas Baker. Truth be told, he never liked the general. Thomas was too hot headed and rash for Fury's taste, "Yes I will, Dr. Baker."

Ana locked eyes with her father. He looked so much like Will, the pair were almost twins. Right now was when Ana needed her big brother the most, but he wasn't here. He was dead and she would have to be strong by herself, "From this moment on, I patient my own research for S.H.I.E.L.D's use only. The only way another organization may utilize my research is through my permission or Nick Fury's. Do you accept these terms, Director Fury?"

Fury nodded, "I accept these terms Dr. Baker," he took a step towards the dump struck Thomas, "General, I think it's time for you to leave. Your daughter needs rest."

Thomas left the room without another word. Fury looked over his shoulder at Ana who was now leaning against her pillows. She exhausted herself that was for sure. Fury smiled, "It's good to have you back Dr. Baker."

"It's good to be back," Ana lied as Fury left her alone.

Slowly, Ana turned onto her side and looked out the windows. It was dark outside, and Ana never felt more alone. Ana tucked a hand under her pillow and frowned as she slowly drifted off into a nightmare filled sleep.

#####

It was around one in the morning when the nurse noticed the man sitting in Dr. Baker's room. The S.H.I.E.L.D agents who were assigned to guard her had fallen asleep in their chairs but the nurse didn't care, she could see the room. But while she went to do her rounds someone slipped inside the room.

At first, the nurse just through it was an S.H.I.E.L.D agent. The man had dark hair and was dressed in dark clothes, he clearly fit the part. He was sitting in a chair beside Ana's bed and he was holding one of her hands. The man's shoulders were shaking as if he was sobbing.

The already exhausted nurse placed her chart down and walked around the nurse's station. She heard the man speaking in Russian but because the nurse couldn't understand Russia, the words were meaningless.

"Sir," the nurse whispered as she pushed open the door to the room, "You're not allowed to be in here."

The man looked up when he heard the German woman. He was crying, his eyes were red and there were tear streaks on his cheeks. With his free hand, the man whipped the tears away from his blue eyes then nodded. He stood without saying anything and pushed past the nurse. The nurse watched the man walk out of the ward with a confused look on her face.


End file.
